This Morning in London major stocks opened higher aided by a stronger mining sector and a raft of earnings news which broadly met expectations although investors appeared reticent in the face of economic uncertainty. Mining stocks were in evidence at the top of the leader board. Vedanta (VED) added 61p to 2161p, Xstrata (XTA) put on 65p to 1677p, Rio Tinto (RIO) gained 83p to 4280p and BHP (BLT) rose 40p to 1740p. Elsewhere, Alliance & Leicester (AL.) recovered some of its previous session's heavy falls after playing down vague market speculation that it has approached the Bank of England for emergency funds. Rumours swirled in the market Monday that it had approached the Bank of England for emergency funds, sending its shares lower. By 09:30 the FTSE-100 was up 41.2 points at 6,502.6, whilst the FTSE-250 was up 71.9 at 11,386.3.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN Amro reiterates hold Standard Chartered (STAN) and reiterates buy Ryanair (RYA) (raising the price target to €6.3 vs €6.25).
Cazenove reiterates outperform on Barclays (BARC), reiterates underperform on Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), reiterates outperform on Alliance & Leicester (AL.) and reiterates outperform on HBOS (HBOS).
Citigroup has downgraded Amec (AMEC) to hold from buy and has upgraded Serco (SRP) to buy from hold.
Evolution reiterates reduce AB Foods (ABF) and reiterates buy Bovis Homes (BVS), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and InterContinental Hotels (IHG).
The broker has upgraded Micro Focus (MCRO) to buy from add and reiterates add Marks and Spencer (MKS).
Goldman reiterates neutral on ICI (ICI) and Sainsbury (SBRY) (cutting the price target to 465p from 613p).
Lehman still prefers BHP Billiton (BLT) to Rio Tinto (RIO).
Morgan Stanley has resumed coverage of FirstGroup (FGP) appending an overweight recommendation and a 910p price target.
Sanford Bernstein reiterates underperform on BT (BT.A).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York Wall Street scaled back its losses as investors looked beyond Citigroup's likely write off of $11 billion more in credit-related losses to focus on stocks outside the embattled financial sector. Down more than 150 points earlier on, the Dow Jones closed down 51.7 points at 13,543.4. The S&P was down 7.48 points to 1,502.17, while the Nasdaq shed 15.20 points to finish at 2,795.18.
On this day:-
2003 - Michael Howard took over as leader of the Conservative party, after Iain Duncan Smith was ousted in a no-confidence vote.
1962 - The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and called on all member states to terminate economic and military relations with the country. Following the 1960 massacre of unarmed demonstrators at Sharpeville near Johannesburg, South Africa, the international movement to end apartheid gained wide international support. However, few major Western powers, nor South Africa's other main trading powers, supported a full economic or military embargo against the country. Nonetheless, U.N. opposition grew, and in 1973 a U.N. resolution declared apartheid a crime against humanity. In 1974, South Africa was suspended from the General Assembly.
1956 - Construction began to build the Kariba High Dam on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
1956 - A ceasefire was announced between Great British, Egyptian and French forces fighting for control of the Suez Canal. It was the last major Great British parachute deployment during warfare and was led by the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.
1942 - The Church of England relaxed its rule that women must wear hats in church.
1935 - The RAF's first monoplane fighter, the 'Hawker Hurricane' made its maiden flight.
1932 - In Germany, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler emerged as the largest single party in the general election.
1917 - World War I: the end of the Third Battle of Ypres when Great British and Canadian troops captured the infamous Passchendale Ridge.
1900 - In the United States of America, Republican President William McKinley was re-elected, defeating the Democrat challenger, William Jennings Bryan.
1869 - Diamonds are discovered at Kimberley in Cape Province, South Africa.
1860 - Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was narrowly elected 16th US President.
1813 - Mexico declared its independence from Spain.
1429 - Henry VI was crowned King of England. Two-years later in Paris he was also crowned King of France.
