This Morning in London blue-chip shares extended opening falls in reaction to a disappointing end to trading on Wall Street. Telecom stocks dominated the early risers with Vodafone (VOD) up 6.4p at 188.3p after raising its full year revenue and profit guidance. It reported higher first half revenue and adjusted operating profit bolstered by emerging market growth. At 9:30 the FTSE-100 was down 41.5 points at 6,296.4 with the FTSE-250 off 28.8 points at 10,865.5.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN Amro reiterates hold Standard Chartered (STAN), raising target to £18 from £17.
Bear Stearns upgrades Smith & Nephew (SN.) to outperform from peer perform and reiterates outperform for Shire (SHP).
Exane BNP Paribas reiterates neutral for Sainsbury (SBRY).
Goldman Sachs upgrades Unilever (ULVR) to neutral from sell and Vedanta Resources (VED) to neutral from sell and upgrades William Hill (WMH) to buy from neutral.
HSBC reiterates underweight F&C Asset Management (FCAM), raising target to 170p from 150p.
Merrill Lynch initiates coverage of Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGO) with a buy rating and 680p target price.
JP Morgan resumes coverage of Friends Provident (FP.) with a neutral and 165p target.
Morgan Stanley downgrades European banks to cautious from in-line.
Numis has an add and 57p target for Anite Group (AIE), an add and £12.50 target for Aveva (AVV), a buy and 690p target for Babcock (BAB), an add and £10.03 target for Emap (EMA), a hold and 95p target for Northern Foods (NFDS) and a buy and 715p target for VT Group (VTG).
Seymour Pierce has a hold for Brit Insurance (BRE), an underperform for Cable & Wireless (CW.) and outperforms for Emap (EMA) and Vodafone (VOD).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks extended the prior week's steep losses, with the Dow Jones closing below the 13,000-mark for the first time in nearly three months, as credit-related worries persisted. After dropping at the start and then reversing course to a 100-point gain, the Dow closed down 55.2 points, at 12,987.5, 175 points off its high for the session. The S&P fell 14.52 points to 1,439.18, while the Nasdaq declined 43.81 points to 2,584.13.
On this day in:-
1987 - In Great Britain, a rapist is jailed for 8-years at Bristol Crown Court, after being convicted on evidence based on genetic fingerprinting.
1970 - Colossal tidal waves and storm surges struck the shores of the Ganges Delta, wreaking lethal damage on the people of East Pakistan. A 120-mile-per-hour cyclone spurred deadly tidal waves that washed over scores of coastal islands. An estimated total of 200,000 dead made it the century's largest disaster by water. The Ganges Delta had suffered many furious storms, but this was the worst natural disaster in the region’s history. The failure of the West Pakistani government to respond quickly to the crisis contributed to the political turmoil that produced an independent Bangladesh in 1971.
1947 - Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton resigned after admitting he had disclosed tax proposals to a reporter several minutes before presenting his Budget to the House of Commons.
1942 - World War II: Great British forces retook Tobruk in North Africa from the Germans.
1936 - Edward VIII told Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin he intended to marry American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson.
1930 - The discovery of planet Pluto.
1916 - World War I: The end of the Battle of Somme in which 400,000 Great British troops were killed or injured.
1914 - The Brassiere was patented in the United States by heiress Mary Phelps Jacob. Previously women had worn a version of the child's liberty bodice to protect them when playing sport.
1909 - An explosion and fire at a coal mine in Illinois, USA, killed at least 250 miners.
1887 - 'Bloody Sunday' in London when violence erupted in Trafalgar Square at a Socialist rally attended by Irish agitators.
1851 - The start of a telegraphic service between London and Paris.
1687 - The death of actress Nell Gwynn aged 37, mistress of King Charles II of England.
