This Morning in London major shares started the week lower, with Standard Chartered (STAN) weaker after a broker downgrade. Standard Chartered was 45p lower at 1,869p after being cut to 'neutral' from 'buy' at UBS. The bank, the best performer in the FTSE-100 on Friday, will issue a trading statement on Wednesday. Whitbread (WTB) was 31p lower at 1,410p after being cut to 'hold' from 'buy' at Citigroup. On the upside, advertising giant WPP Group (WPP) was an early gainer, up 11p at 625p, on reports of a major contract win computer maker Dell (DEC). At 9:30 the FTSE-100 was down 24.7 points at 6,407.8 with the FTSE-250 off 71.6 points at 10,677.2.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Altium has downgraded Clapham House (CPH) to hold from buy (450p target price) and reiterates buy Games Workshop (GAW) (295p target price).
The broker says buy Innovation (TIG) (40p price target).
Cazenove has downgraded Bradford & Bingley (BB.) to underperform from in-line.
Charles Stanley says buy Sovereign Reversions (SVN).
Goldman has upgraded Colt Telecom (COLT) to neutral from sell and has initiated coverage of Salamander Energy (SMDR) appending a buy recommendation and a 376p target price.
KBC reiterates hold Close Brothers (CBG) (target price 950p).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Friday in New York shares moved to weekly gains, but monthly losses, as technology bellwether Dell released a shaky forecast, which knocked the breath out of the Nasdaq, which had the effect of offsetting, what had been a warm response from the Federal Reserve as it suggested further interest-rate cuts ahead. The Dow Jones closed up 59.99-points at 13371.72, the Nasdaq slipped 7.17-points to 2660.96 and the S&P recorded its best 4-day rally since March 2003 and on the day it added 11.42-points to 1481.14. On the week the Dow gained 390.82-points, a rise of 2.9% and on the month it fell 4%. The Nasdaq gained 2.4% on the week and registered a monthly loss of 6.9%. On the week the S&P had a weekly gain of 2.7% and a monthly decline of 4.3%.
On this day:-
1836 - In the first fatal railway derailment in Great Britain, 3 people were killed in Corby near Carlisle in Cumbria.
1911 - Neon lighting pioneered by the French physicist George Claude, went on public display for the first time at the Paris Motor Show.
1917 - The official opening of the Quebec Bridge over the St Lawrence River, the world's longest cantilever bridge.
1926 - A real mystery. Crime writer Agatha Christie disappeared from her home in Surrey. She was found 11 days later staying under an assumed name at a hotel at Harrogate in Yorkshire. The writer claimed she had no idea what she is doing there!
1963 - Launch of Great Britain's second Nuclear submarine, HMS Valiant.
1967 - 53-year-old Lewis Washkansky received the first successful heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa. Washkansky, a grocer who suffered from chronic heart disease, received the transplant from Denise Darvall, a 25-year-old woman who was fatally injured in a car accident. Surgeon Christian Barnard performed the revolutionary medical operation, which was a success. After the procedure, Washkansky was given drugs to suppress his immune system and keep his body from rejecting the heart. These drugs also left him susceptible to sickness though, and 18 days later he died from double pneumonia. Despite the setback, Washkansky's new heart had functioned normally until his death, and in the 1970's the development of better anti-rejection drugs made transplantation more viable.
1979 - In Cincinnati, 11 American teenagers were trampled to death at a concert given by Great British group The Who.
1988 - Health Minister Edwina Currie controversially claimed that most eggs produced in Great Britain were affected by salmonella. Soon afterwards she was forced to resign.
1993 - Diana, Princess of Wales, announced that she would be vastly reducing her number of public engagements and drastically cutting down the number of organisations and charities she actively supported.
1997 - In the continuing crisis over BSE in Great British cattle, the Government announced a ban on the sale of meat 'on the bone' including steaks; roast ribs and oxtail.
