This Morning in London major shares were only slightly higher in early deals, as a weaker tone dampened the mining sector. There was heavy profit taking across the base and precious metal markets last night with Anglo American (AAL) down 12p at 3,271p, Rio Tinto (RIO) off 35p at 4,177p and Lonmin (LMI) off 18p at 3,481p. At 10:00 the FTSE-100 was up 23.5 points at 6,523.9 with the FTSE-250 ahead 71.2 points at 11,302.6.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Altium Securities reiterates buy Carluccio's (CARL) with a 275p target, has a buy and 135p target for Dawson Holdings (DWN) and a buy and 315p target for Redhall Group (RHL).
Bear Stearns remains positive on Unilever (ULVR) after a meeting with the chief finance officer.
Citigroup reiterates hold C&C Group (CCR) with a €6 target, has a buy for De La Rue (DLAR), a buy and £11.50 target for Keller Group (KLR) and a buy and 500p target for Tesco (TSCO).
Deutsche Bank reiterates buy Diageo (DGE) with an £11.50 target.
Evolution Securities reinitiates coverage of DCD Media (DCD) with a buy and 120p target, reiterates buy Cookson (CKSN), raising target to 910p from 800p, has a buy and 630p target for Man Group (EMG) and a buy and 31.7p target for Kalahari Minerals (KAH).
Goldman Sachs downgrades Greencore (GNC) to sell from neutral, reducing target to €4.21 from €5.15, downgrades Meggitt (MGGT) to neutral from buy, cutting target to 335p from 365p, reiterates buy Arriva (ARI), raising target to 920p from 890p, raising estimates, has a buy for Go-Ahead Group (GOG), cutting target to £27.80 from £29, reducing estimates and has a buy and £12.78 target for Dana Petroleum (DNX), while removing the stock from its Conviction Buy List.
KBC Peel Hunt reiterates sell Carluccio's (CARL), raising estimates, has a buy for Lookers (LOOK), raising estimates, a reduce for Paragon (PAG) and a buy for Phoenix IT (PNX), cutting estimates.
Landsbanki reiterates buy Inspicio (INP), has a buy for Asos (ASC), a buy for Cookson (CKSN), a hold on Foseco (FOSE), a buy for Imprint (IMP), a buy and 350 fair value for SThree (STHR) and a buy for International Ferro Metals (IFL).
Merrill Lynch reiterates buy Tesco (TSCO), raising target to 485p from 470p and reiterates buys for Barratt Developments (BDEV), Bellway (BWY), Persimmon (PSN), Redrow (RDW) and Taylor Wimpey (TW.).
JP Morgan downgrades its rating for Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) to neutral from overweight, with an unchanged 165p target price.
The broker has a neutral stance on Smith & Nephew (SN.), raising target to 655p from 615p.
Morgan Stanley upgrades Victrex (VCT) to equal-weight from underweight with a 650p target, reiterates overweight Tesco (TSCO) with a 480p target and has an equal-weight and 505p target for Trinity Mirror (TNI).
Numis has upgraded Asos (ASC) to add from hold with a 140p target, Carluccio's (CARL) to add from hold 221p, Lookers (LOOK) to buy from add 240p and Phoenix IT (PNX) to buy from add 520p.
Seymour Pierce reiterates buy Asos (ASC), has a buy for China Shoto (CHNS), a hold for Desire Petroleum (DES) and a hold and 185p target for Premier Farnell (PFL).
UBS has a buy and 620p target for British Airways (BAY) and a buy and 525p target for Tesco (TSCO).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks closed mostly lower, retracing a portion of the prior day's record-setting gains, as fresh economic data cast the troubled housing market in a dismal light. The Dow Jones fell 40.2 points to finish at 14,047.3, with 16 of the blue-chip barometer's 30 components trading lower. Exxon Mobil fronted the Dow's losses, its stock off 1.8%. The S&P declined 0.41 points to 1,546.63, led lower by heavy selling in commodities-related stocks, such as energy and mining stocks. Whilst the Nasdaq climbed 6.12 points to close at 2,747.11.
On this day in:-
1993 - The launch of Great Britain's first home shopping channel on television (QVC).
1990 - The official re-unification of East and West Germany, with Berlin named as its capital.
1981 - Republican hunger-strikers at the H-block internment prison in Northern Ireland finally give up their protest after 8-months. During that time 10 of their fellow protesters had died of starvation.
1956 - The first appearance of the Russian Bolshoi Ballet at Covent Garden in London.
1952 - Great Britain detonated its first atomic bomb on the Monte Bello Islands off the coast of Western Australia.
1941 - The aerosol was patented by L.D Goodhue and W.N Sullivan.
1941 - In New York, the premiere of the film 'The Maltese Falcon' starring Humphrey Bogart and directed by John Huston.
1940 - The former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned from Winston Churchill's coalition Government.
1929 - The individual kingdoms of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia were brought together to become Yugoslavia.
1906 - SOS, popularly referred to as 'Save Our Souls', was established as the international distress signal, replacing the call sign CDQ - popularly interpreted as 'Come Damn Quick!'.
1888 - The first performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'The Yeoman of the Guard' at the Savoy Theatre in London.
1866 - The signing of the Treaty of Vienna ended the war between Austria and Italy.
1811 - The first recorded women's county cricket match between Hampshire and Surrey at Newington.
1226 - The death of St Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order of monks.
