This Morning in London shares were firmly higher in early deals, with house-builders the major gainers. The construction industry dominated the leader board following yesterday's quarter point cut and growing hopes of further cuts in the new year. Taylor Wimpey (TW.) was the top riser, up 10.2p at 209.5p. Its peer Persimmon (PSN) was up 23.5p at 774p and Barratt Developments (BDEV) gained 11p at 459.25p. Midcap peer Berkeley Group (BKG) was 70p higher at 1,321p as it reported an 11.2% increase in first-half pretax profit to £90.6m on the back of resilient housing markets in London and the South East. At 9:50 the FTSE-100 was up 59 points at 6,544.6 with the FTSE-250 ahead 126.1 points at 10,621.9.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN Amro has a buy for Tesco (TSCO) raising target to 600p from 592p.
Altium reiterates buy James Halstead (JHD) with a 695p target, has an add and £14.20 target for AG Barr (BAG), a buy and 60p target for ITIS Holdings (ITH) and a hold and 435p target for Mouchel Parkman (MCHL).
Citigroup has a buy and £13 target for Bellway (BWY), a buy for Catlin (CGL), cutting target to 580p from 640p, upgrades Premier Farnell (PFL) to hold from sell with a 150p target, a sell and 450p target for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and a buy and 690p target for Smith & Nephew (SN.).
Collins Stewart has a sell rating and 100p target price for Northern Rock (NRK).
HSBC has upgraded Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to overweight from neutral, has a neutral for Henderson (HGI), cutting target to 150p from 160p and an underweight for Antofagasta (ANTO), cutting target to 740p from 780p.
WH Ireland reiterates outperform for Mouchel Parkman (MCHL) and has a market perform for RPS (RPS).
Numis has a buy and 781p target for BSkyB (BSY), an add and 245p target for Game Group (GMG), a reduce and 60p target for Northgate Information Solutions (NIS) and a buy and 360p target for RPS Group (RPS).
Seymour Pierce reiterates outperform for Air Music and Media (AMU) and downgrades Focus Solutions (FSG) to outperform from buy.
UBS reiterates neutral Balfour Beatty (BBY), raising target to 504p from 479p, has a sell for Premier Farnell (PFL) while raising target to 135p from 130p, a neutral and £11.70 target for Bellway (BWY), upgrades Davis Service Group (DVSG) to buy from neutral with a 620p target, has a neutral and 625p target for Cadbury (CBRY) and a neutral for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), cutting target to 535p from 575p.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks extended gains for a second day after the White House offered its plan to curb home foreclosures, bolstering financial shares battered for months by the subprime mortgage crisis and related credit crunch. The Dow Jones rose 174.9 points to 13,619.9, with 27 of its 30 components ending higher, led by a 5.5% rise by American Insurance Group shares. Also bolstering investor sentiment is an expectation of another interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve when the central bank meets on Tuesday. The S&P gained 22.33 points at 1,507.34, and the Nasdaq was up 42.67 points to 2,709.03.
On this day in:-
1997 - The Great British children's TV phenomenon, the Teletubbies moved to new heights when their first record, ‘Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh’, reached Number One.
1989 - A gunman, claiming to hate feminists, massacred 14 women at the University of Montreal in Canada.
1982 - America carried out its first execution by lethal injection: prisoner Charles Brooks Jnr was executed at Fort Worth in Texas.
1979 - The production of MG sports cars came to an end after 50-years.
1967 - American singer Otis Redding recorded 'Dock of the Bay', 3-days before being killed in a plane crash.
1941 - World War II: Japanese dive-bombers attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, several hours before issuing an official declaration of war. On Sunday morning, 7th December, 1941, American neutrality in World War II ended when Japanese forces conducted a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Over 400 planes from 6 Japanese carriers bombed the harbour and airfield, and within 2-hours much of the American Pacific fleet was rendered useless. Losses were devastating: Five of eight battleships, 3 destroyers, and 7 other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than half the island's aircraft were destroyed. Fortunately for the Americans, all 3 U.S. Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded in the attack. Japan's losses were 29 planes and 4 midget submarines. The next day, Japan attacked the Philippines, Malaya, Thailand, and Hong Kong, while Great Britain and the United States declared war on Japan.
1907 - The first Congress of the Egyptian nationalist movement under Mustafa Kamil.
1787 - Delaware became the first state of the United States of America.
1783 - At the age of 24, William Pitt the Younger became the youngest Great British Prime Minister.
1732 - The opening of the original Covent Garden Opera House, with a performance of Way Of The World, by William Congreve.
