This Morning in London major shares opened sharply lower, following a weak showing on Wall Street last night. Northern Rock (NRK) led the blue chips down, slipping 19.1p to 145p, following reports in the Daily Telegraph that the UK government may close the troubled bank to new business and put the lender into administration. At 9:30 the FTSE-100 was down 98.1 points at 6,322.0 with the FTSE-250 off 158.5 points at 10,976.0.
Citigroup downgrades Alfred McAlpine (MCA) to hold from buy.
Credit Suisse reiterates outperform CSR (CSR) raising estimates and reiterates outperform New Star Asset Management (NSAM).
Deutsche Bank reiterates buy British Energy (BGY), cutting target to 640p from 660p.
Evolution reiterates buys for Carphone Warehouse (CPW), Dairy Crest (DCG), Punch Taverns (PUB), European Goldfields (EGU), raising target to 490p from 326p and Invensys (ISYS) and reiterates add Rentokil (RTO).
Investec upgrades Premier Foods (PFD) to buy from hold, cutting target to 235p from 260p.
WH Ireland upgrades Hornby (HRN) to outperform from underperform.
The broker upgrades Provident Financial (PFG) to buy from outperform.
KBC Peel Hunt reiterates buys for Close Bros (CBG), Punch Taverns (PUB) and Salamander Energy (SMDR).
Morgan Stanley reiterates equal-weight Sainsbury (SBRY) preferring Tesco (TSCO).
Numis has a hold and 375p target for Carphone Warehouse (CPW), an add and 635p target for Dairy Crest (DCG), a buy and 33p target for Hydrodec (HYR) a buy and 450p target for Lancashire Holdings (LRE), an add and 41p target for Novae Group (NVA), an add and 425p target for Playtech (PTEC), a buy and £14.72 target for Punch Taverns (PUB) and a buy and 292p target for Wilmington Group (WIL).
Seymour Pierce has a buy for Catlin (CGL) and a buy and 200p target for Rentokil Initial (RTO).
SG Securities downgrades Tomkins (TOMK) to sell from hold.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York Wall Street shares thudded lower, with the Dow suffering its fifth-largest decline yet this year, amid persistent financial woes, a drooping dollar, surging oil and General Motors' largest-ever quarterly loss. The Dow Jones fell 360.9 points to 13,300.0, with all of its 30 components ending in the red, led by insurance giant American International Group, down 6.7% ahead of its quarterly report. The S&P shed 44.65 points to 1,475.62, while the Nasdaq dropped 76.42 points to 2,748.76.
On this day:-
1995 - General Colin Powell, former head of the United States' armed forces, announced that he would not be seeking to become America's first black President.
1987 - In Northern Ireland, 11 people were killed by an IRA bomb, which exploded shortly before a Remembrance Day service at Enniskillen.
1974 - The world famous fruit and vegetable market at Covent Garden in London closed, after existing for more than 300-years.
1967 - Great Britain’s first commercial radio station, Radio Leicester, was given a licence to broadcast.
1966 - The Italian city of Florence appealed for help to save valuable art treasures threatened by severe flooding.
1960 - In America, Democrat John F Kennedy defeated Republican Richard Nixon to become US President.
1920 - 'The Daily Express' published the first 'Rupert Bear' strip cartoon.
1917 - Nikolai Lenin became Chief Commissar in Russia and Leon Trotsky named as Russian Premier.
1904 - Republican US President Theodore Roosevelt won another presidential term, after defeating his Democrat challenger Alton Parker.
1895 - In Germany, scientist Wilhelm Rontgen discovers X rays during an experiment at the University of Wurzburg.
1892 - In America, Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland won the Presidential election.
1864 - Abraham Lincoln was re-elected President of the United States with Andrew Johnson his Vice-President.
1861 - In America, the 'Trent Affair'. Confederate commissioners to Great Britain and France were forced off a Great British ship by Unionists. They were released and allowed back on board after strong Great British protests.
1793 - Louvre Museum in Paris officially opens to the public.
