This Morning in London blue-chip shares opened strongly, with Land Securities (LAND) higher after announcing a three-way demerger plan. Land Securities was up 40p at 1,608p after saying it plans to demerge into three separately quoted companies to reflect its three main business streams: retail property, the London property market and property outsourcing business Trillium. The group also revealed its interim pretax profit fell to £375.2m from £1.2bn previously, which it said was as a result of a smaller valuation surplus. At 9:30 the FTSE-100 was up 81.9 points at 6,444.3 with the FTSE-250 ahead 171.9 points at 11,092.1.
Goldman has upgraded Halma (HLMA) and Dairy Crest (DCG) to neutral from sell.
Merrill has upgraded Minerva (MNR) to neutral from sell.
Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage of Wolseley (WOS) appending an equal-weight recommendation with 650p price target.
Sanford Bernstein has downgraded Rio Tinto (RIO) to market perform from outperform and reiterates outperform on Barclays (BARC), RBS (RBS) and HBOS (HBOS) and reiterates market perform on Lloyds TSB (LLOY) and HSBC (HSBA).
The broker reiterates outperform on Vodafone (VOD), Tesco (TSCO) and Sainsbury (SBRY) and reiterates market perform on Morrison (MRW).
SG Securities reiterates buy EMAP (EMA) (raising the target price to 939p).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks surged higher as beleaguered financial stocks fronted a rally that sparked the Dow's biggest single-day jump in eight weeks after Goldman Sachs' outlook helped appease market jitters about the credit crisis. Snapping an extended four-day losing streak, the Dow Jones climbed 319.5 points to 13,307.1, with all but one of its 30 components ending higher, led by financials. The S&P gained 41.86 points to finish at 1,481.04, while the Nasdaq advanced 89.52 points to 2,673.65.
On this day in:-
1995 - Diana, Princess of Wales disclosed she had given a major interview to the BBC TV programme Panorama, in which she discussed the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles and admitted that she too, like her husband, had committed adultery.
1982 - The city of Gdansk, birthplace of Poland's historic shipyard strike, celebrated the homecoming of Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. Walesa, Poland's champion of trade unionism, was imprisoned in 1981 as part of communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski's crackdown on the Solidarity movement, but supporters called for the middle-aged electrician's release in street demonstrations, union meetings, and church gatherings. Not even the forces of martial law could silence the national cry to Free Lech! Walesa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and in 1990 he became Poland's first democratically elected leader.
1977 - The first national firemen's strike in Great Britain. More than 10,000 troops were called in to cover emergencies.
1973 - Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips.
1973 - England football captain Bobby Moore played his last international match, against Italy at Wembley, his 108th game for his country.
1948 - The birth of Prince Charles, first child of Princess Elizabeth.
1941 - The Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier Ark Royal sank off Gibraltar, after being hit by an Italian torpedo.
1940 - World War II: German bombers launched a major night raid on Coventry in the Midlands. More than 1000 people were killed and Coventry Cathedral was destroyed.
1938 - In Germany, Jews were expelled from colleges and universities.
1911 - King George V and Queen Mary landed at Gibraltar, the first time a reigning Great British monarch had visited a Commonwealth country.
1900 - The French Senate voted in favour of admitting women to practise at the Bar.
1896 - In Great Britain, the speed limit for horseless carriges was raised from 4-mph to 14-mph.
1770 - Scottish explorer James Bruce discovered the source of the Blue Nile.
1582 - English dramatist William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway.
