This Morning in London major shares rallied in opening deals, after having tumbled yesterday amid concern over credit markets. Northern Rock (NRK) led the gainers in early deals, up 3p at 89p, with the Financial Times reporting that private equity group Olivant has been persuaded to stay in the auction for the stricken mortgage bank after gaining reassurance it would be treated on equal footing to a rival bid consortium led by Virgin Group. At 9:15 the FTSE-100 was up 40.4 points at 6,404.6 with the FTSE-250 ahead 110.9 points at 10,445.6.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN Amro initiates coverage of GKN (GKN) with a buy and 350p target and Petrofac (PFC) with a buy and 546p target and reiterates hold for HBOS (HBOS).
Altium Securities cuts Burst Media (BRST) target to 7p from 12p.
Citigroup has downgraded its rating for HBOS (HBOS) to hold from buy, cutting target to 750p from £10.50..
The broker upgrades Misys (MSY) to hold from sell.
Credit Suisse has a neutral for Travis Perkins (TPK), cutting target to £14.50 from £21, a neutral for Rank Group (RNK), cutting target to 110p from 230p, reducing estimates and has an underperform and 100p target for ITV (ITV), cutting estimates.
Evolution Securities upgrades Rentokil Initial (RTO) to buy with a 170p target and reiterates buy Rank Group (RNK) with a 175p target.
Exane BNP Paribas upgrades Rentokil Initial (RTO) to outperform from neutral cutting target to 160p from 180p.
Goldman Sachs has downgraded Vedanta Resources (VED) to sell from neutral, cutting target to £22.40 from £25.45, downgraded Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) to sell from neutral, cutting target to 180p from 280p, reiterates neutral for Cineworld (CINE), cutting target to 216p from 253p, neutral on Domino Printing (DNO), cutting target to 340p from 370p, neutral on Lonmin (LMI), cutting target to £36.,75 from £39, neutral in Sportingbet (SBT), cutting target to 58p from 62p and has a buy for Xstrata (XTA) while cutting target to £43.35 from £45.
HSBC reiterates neutral for BAE Systems (BA.), raising target to 510p from 455p.
KBC Peel Hunt has a buy for JKX Oil & Gas (JKX), downgrades Kiln (KIN) to hold from buy, has a hold for Oilexco (OIL), upgrades Paragon (PAG) to add from hold and Regus (RGU) to hold from sell.
Merrill Lynch reiterates buy and 865p target for United Business Media (UBM), has a buy and 181p target for Rentokil Initial (RTO), a buy and 600p target for Rexam (REX) and a buy and £13.70 target for Shire (SHP).
JP Morgan upgrades Go-Ahead Group (GOG) to neutral from underweight, raising target to £25.83 from £22.
Morgan Stanley downgrades Mecom (MEC) to equal-weight from overweight and downgrades TUI Travel (TUI) to underweight from equal-weight.
Numis has a buy and 171p target for Albidon (ALD), a hold and 150p target for Kiln (KIN), a buy and 42p target for PartyGaming (PRTY), a buy and 743p target for United Business Media (UBM) and an add and 730p target for VT Group (VTG).
Seymour Pierce reiterates buy for Zamano (ZMNO), raising target to 46p from 35p and raising estimates and has an outperform for United Business Media (UBM).
SG Securities has a hold and 500p target for BAE Systems (BA.).
UBS upgrades Urals Energy (UEN) to buy from neutral, cutting target to 250p from 475p and downgrades Irish Life & Permanent (IPM) to neutral from buy.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks remained under pressure, shifting to mixed action late in the day, with Honeywell International 2008 forecast helping to lift sentiment about industrials and other global companies with business overseas. After dropping more than 100 points during the session, the Dow ended 41.1 points ahead, at 13,518. The broader stock indexes closed mixed, with the S&P up 1.82 points to 1,488.41, and the Nasdaq shedding 2.65 points to 2,668.49.
On this day in:-
1995 - A peace agreement, to end the fighting in the former Yugoslavia, was signed in Paris.
1991 - The former East German leader Erich Honecker , facing extradition to Germany and trial on manslaughter charges, was offered asylum in North Korea.
1990 - In Hong Kong , 10 Vietnamese boat people set fire to themselves to protest at the screening policy that could prevent them from settling in the West.
1989 - Opposition leader Patricio Aylwin was elected President in Chile's first free election since 1970.
1989 - The death of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov.
1973 - Teenager John Paul Getty II was set free by his kidnappers, after his grandfather, the oil tycoon, paid a ransom of $750,000.
1972 - US spacecraft Apollo 17 blasts off from the Moon after American astronauts had spent 3-days exploring the lunar surface. The crew left behind a plaque placedd on the ladder of the descent stage of Challenger, which reads: Here Man completed his first explorations of the moon. December 1972 AD. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind. The plaque showed 2 hemispheres of Earth and the near side of the Moon, plus the signatures of the 3 crewmen, Cernan, Evans and Schmitt, and that of the then US President, Richard Nixon. Commander Eugene Cernan left a Czechoslovakian flag on the Moon because his ancestors came from Czechoslovakia.
1962 - US spacecraft Mariner II sent the first close up pictures of Venus back to Earth.
1959 - Archbishop Makarios was elected first President of Cyprus.
1939 - The world premiere of 'Gone With The Wind', at Atlanta, Georgia.
1937 - Japan established a puppet Chinese government at Peking.
1927 - Great Britain recognised the independence of Iraq.
1922 - John Reith was appointed general manager of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
1918 - Women over 30 were given the vote for the first time in a Great British general election.
1918 - The assassination of Sidonio Paes, President of Portugal.
1916 - The people of Denmark vote to sell the Danish West Indies to the United States of America for $25-million.
1913 - Greece formally annexed Crete.
1912 - Louis Botha resigned as premier of South Africa.
1911 - Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first explorer to reach the South Pole, beating his Great British rival, Robert Falcon Scott. In early 1911, Amundsen sailed his ship into Antarctica's Bay of Whales and set up base camp 60-miles closer to the pole than Scott. In October, both explorers set off--Amundsen using sleigh dogs, and Scott employing Siberian motor sledges, Siberian ponies, and dogs. On 14th December 1911, Amundsen's expedition won the race to the Pole and returned safely to base camp in late January. Scott's expedition was less fortunate. The motor sleds broke down, the ponies had to be shot, and the dog teams were sent back as Scott and 4 companions continued on foot. On 18th January 1912, they reached the pole only to find that Amundsen had preceded them by over a month. Weather on the return journey was exceptionally bad, 2 members perished and a storm later trapped Scott and the other 2 survivors in their tent only 11-miles from their base camp. Scott’s frozen body was found later that year.
1819 - In America, Alabama officially became a member of the United States.
1542 - The accession of Mary Queen of Scots following the death of James V.
