This Morning in London major shares were modestly higher in opening deals, thanks to a rebound in the US on Friday. Standard Chartered (STAN) shares climbed 75p to 1,739p after today's Financial Times said China's three largest banks approached Temasek Holdings about buying its 17% stake in the UK group. ABN Amro said the fact that Temasek has refused the offers suggests there is some possibility that these Chinese banks will over time build their stake in the open market with obvious positive implications for the share price. By 9:30 the FTSE-100 was down 2.3 points at 6,288.9 with the FTSE-250 ahead 35.3 points at 10,801.5.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN Amro has a hold for Standard Chartered (STAN) and a buy for Vodafone (VOD).
Cazenove has an in-line rating for Standard Chartered (STAN).
Citigroup downgrades Punch Taverns (PUB) to hold from buy.
Credit Suisse has an underperform for Bank of Ireland (BKIR), cutting target to €12.5 from €14.
Deutsche Bank has a hold for Lonmin (LMI), cutting target to £32.40 from £33.20, has a buy for Anglo American (AAL), cutting target to £33.70 from £34.10 and has a hold for Cadbury (CBRY), trimming estimates.
Goldman Sachs downgrades Tomkins (TOMK), Smiths Group (SMIN) and Colt Telecom (COLT) to sell from neutral.
HSBC initiates coverage of Regus (RGU) with an overweight rating and 110p price target.
The broker has an overweight for Inchcape (INCH), raising target to 560p from 530p.
KBC Peel Hunt has buys for Hansard Global (HSD) and Venture Production (VPC).
JP Morgan upgrades ICI (ICI) to neutral from underweight raising target to 670p form 500p and has an overweight for Kingfisher (KGF), cutting target to 235p from 256p.
Numis has an add and 436p target for IG Group (IGG), a hold and 650p target for ICAP (IAP), a buy and 385p target for Detica (DCA), a hold and 630p target for Hamworthy (HMY), a hold and £17.50 target for Unilever (ULVR) and a buy and 706p target for William Hill (WMH).
Panmure Gordon has a buy and 486p target for 4Imprint (FOUR), a buy and £10 target for Axon (AXO), a hold and 700p target for Barratt Developments (BDEV), a buy and 255p target for T Clarke (CTO), a buy and 940p target for Cranswick (CWK), a hold for Detica (DCA), cutting target to 313p from 333p, a buy and 320p target for Hansard Global (HSD), a buy and 190p target for Premier Farnell (PFL), a buy and 250p target for Taylor Nelson (TNS) and a buy and 390p target for Workspace (WKP).
Seymour Pierce has buys for Hambledon Mining (HMB), OHM (OHM) and T Clarke (CTO), an outperform for UBC Media (UBC) and a hold on RM (RM.).
SG Securities upgrades British Land (BLND) to hold from sell, cutting target by 9% to 870p and has a buy for Tesco (TSCO).
UBS upgrades ITV (ITV) to neutral from sell, cutting target to 90p from 100p.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Friday in New York shares finished a volatile week by closing with modest weekly gains, as an unpredictable market ended a roller coaster ride, which once again focused on the credit crunch and its impact on the financial sector and the overall economy. The Dow Jones traded in a 160-point range during the day, eventually closing up 66.74-points at 13176.79, the Nasdaq added 18.73-points to 2637.24, while the S&P put on 7.59-points to end at 1458.74. On the week the Dow closed up 1%, the Nasdaq added 0.4%, while the S&P put on 0.3%.
On this day:-
1493 - On his second voyage to the New World, explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
1620 - The Pilgrim Fathers' ship, The Mayflower arrived off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
1850 - Alfred Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate.
1863 - US President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg address, declaring Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish the earth.
1889 - Table tennis was invented by engineer James Gibb and his family, when hitting champagne corks across the table with the lids of cigar boxes.
1947 - Princess Elizabeth's (soon to become Queen Elizabeth) husband, Prince Phillip was created Duke of Edinburgh.
1949 - Prince Rainer was sworn in as the 30th ruling Prince of Monaco.
1960 - The world's first jet-engined vertical take off and landing aircraft (VTOL), made by the British Hawker Siddeley Company, was flown for the first time.
1969 - American soldiers went on trial charged with murdering more than 50 Vietnamese in the village of Mi Lai.
1969 - Brazilian football great Pele scored his 1,000th professional goal in his 909th professional football match, in a game against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium. It was a major milestone in an illustrious career that included 3 World Cup championships. Pele, one of the greatest players to ever take the field, possessed an uncanny ability to anticipate the movements of his opponents and team-mates. In 1974, he signed a $7-million contract with the New York Cosmos and did much to promote football in the United States. He retired in 1977 after leading the Cosmos to the league championship. During his career, he scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.
1984 - More than 500 people were killed and 10,000 homes were destroyed in an explosion at a chemicals factory in Mexico City
1987 - A 1931 Bugatti Royale car was sold at auction for £5.5-million.
1990 - NATO and Warsaw Pact members officially ended the 'Cold War' by signing a weapons limitation treaty in Paris.
1995 - 16 people were killed in a bomb attack on the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.
