This Morning in London major shares were slightly lower in early deals. Among early movers, banking stocks dominated the fallers after Swiss peer UBS (UBS) said it will write down the value of its US subprime-related holdings by another $10bn and warned it sees a loss at group level for the fourth quarter and possibly a net loss for the full year. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) dipped 8p to 475p, Barclays (BARC) fell 8p to 556p and HSBC (HSBA) eased 10p to 848p. A trading update from the UK's fifth-biggest bank Lloyds TSB (LLOY) failed to offset negative sector sentiment, with its shares dipping 4p to 487p. Lloyds said it was 'firmly on track' to deliver a good performance for the year and produce good economic growth. It also said it remains confident in its earnings growth prospects over the next few years. By 10:10 the FTSE-100 was up 8.7 points at 6,563.6 with the FTSE-250 up 3.9 points at 10,636.8.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Bear Sterns reiterates peer perform on EMAP (EMA) (raising estimates) and has peer perform on Tullett Prebon (TLPR) with a 520p target price for 2008.
The broker has underperform on Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Citigroup has downgraded Blue Bay Asset Management (BBAY) to hold from buy and upgraded Independent News & Media (INWS) to hold from sell.
The broker has initiated coverage of Axon (AXN) appending a hold recommendation and a 590p target price.
Collins Stewart reiterates buy Group 4 Securicor (GFS) (target 265p).
Deutsche reiterates hold Misys (MSY) (with a trading buy recommendation ahead of its update) and says buy Stagecoach (SGC) (raising the price target to 299p from 259p).
Evolution reiterates add AstraZeneca (AZN) (2900p price target) and buy RAB Capital (RAB) (cutting the target price to 90p from 140p), Rank Group (RNK) (175p price target) and Wichford (WICH) (175p target price) and Rio Tinto (RIO) (with the target under review).
ING has initiated coverage of Kingfisher (KGF) appending a buy recommendation and a 210p price target.
Landsbanki says buy City of London Investment Group (CTY) and reiterates buy Immunodiagnostics Systems (IDH).
The broker says buy Northgate Information Solutions (NIS), Severfield-Rowen (SFR), UK Coal (UKC) and Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) and hold RAB Capital (RAB).
Lehman has initiated coverage of Compass Group (CPG) appending an overweight recommendation and a 370p price target.
Merrill has initiated coverage of Mouchel Parkman (MCHL) appending a buy recommendation and a 510p target price and has downgraded EMAP (EMA) to neutral from buy.
Morgan Stanley has upgraded William Hill (WMH) to overweight from equal-weight and Ladbrokes (LAD) to equal-weight from underweight.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Friday in New York shares finished almost unchanged on the day, however, the main indices did manage to record weekly gains, as investors remained reluctant to make large moves before next week's policy-setting meeting by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones closed up 5.69-points at 13625.58, the Nasdaq did slip a little, to close at 2706.16, off just 2.87-points, while the S&P closed down 2.68-points at 1504.66. On the week the Dow Jones had a gain of 1.9%, the Nasdaq added 1.7%, while the S&P put on 1.6%.
On this day:-
1520 - Martin Luther publicly burnt the Papal Bull, which announced his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church.
1810 - Napoleon Bonaparte annexed northern Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg and Lubeck in Germany.
1817 - Mississippi was admitted to the Union as an American state.
1845 - Pneumatic tyres were patented by civil engineer Robert Thompson.
1868 - London's first set of traffic lights were installed in Westminster.
1868 - The first publication of Whittaker's Almanac.
1869 - Wyoming became the first territory in America to give women the vote.
1898 - The signing of Treaty of Paris between United States of America and Spain, which ended the Spanish-American War. Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines were ceded to the United States for $20-million.
1901 - The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel.
1907 - Author Rudyard Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first time it had been bestowed on an English writer.
1941 - World War II: The Great British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Battle of Malaya.
1945 - The opening of Waterloo Bridge across the River Thames in central London, designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
1948 - A United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of Genocide and Human Rights.
1977 - The inaugural flight of the world's first supersonic airliner, Concorde, from London to Singapore.
1990 - Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein refused international calls for him to withdraw his troops from Kuwait.
