This Morning in London blue-chip shares were slightly lower in early deals. Heavyweight banks dragged on the FTSE-100 index early on, after Goldman Sachs reshuffled its ratings on European banks, including Barclays (BARC), and HBOS (HBOS), which it downgraded to 'sell' from 'neutral', and to 'neutral' from 'buy', respectively. Barclays lost 5.5p to 503.5p, while HBOS shed 5p to 731p. Also suffering on the back of a broker downgrade was Intercontinental Hotels (IHG), which headed the blue-chip loserboard, off 22.5p at 874.5p. Earlier, Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the group to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight' and reduced its target to 980p from 1,100p, saying that the group's US revenue per available room growth is slowing at a faster pace than it had previously thought. At 9:40 the FTSE-100 was down 2.8 points at 6,276.5 with the FTSE-250 ahead 71.2 points at 10,258.4.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN says buy BBA Aviation (BBA) (260p target price) and Interserve (IRV) (cutting the price target to 490p from 525p).
Credit Suisse has upgraded Rexam (REX) to outperform from neutral (cutting the price target to 530p from 600p and reducing estimates).
The broker has issued a note on European E&P market in which it has raised it’s long-term oil price to $65-a-barrell from $60 and has raised the sector target prices by around 5% i.e. Burren (BUR) target raised to 1230p from 1100, Tullow (TLW) 700p from 669p, Premier Oil (PMO) 1330p from 1253p, Cairn (CNE) 2600p from 2229p, Venture Production (VPC) 684p from 641p, Soco (SIA) 2250p from 2121p, Oilexco (OIL) 870p from 860p and Dana (DNX) 1520p from 1487p.
WH Ireland reiterates outperform on Cobham (COB) and has market perform on IMI (IMI), Bodycote (BOY) and Tanfield (TAN).
The broker has outperform on Charter (CHTR) (840p target) and reiterates buy MKM (MKM).
Merrill says buy GlobeOp (GO.) (260p target price) and Hikma Pharma (HIK) (540p target).
The broker has reviewed the Utility shares and has added Drax (DRX) to its ‘Least Preferred List’ and removed United Utilities (UU.) from the said list.
Sanford Bernstein has issued a note on UK Life stock for the 3rd-Quarter and has Aviva (AV.) (target 950p) and Legal & General (LGEN) (170p target) as its Top Picks.
The broker has issued a iote on Energy stocks in which it reiterates outperform on Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and BG Group (BG.).
SG Securities has initiated coverage of Vodafone (VOD) appending a sell recommendation and a 160p target price.
The broker has added GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to its SG Premium List and removed Deutsche Telekom.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks bounced back from two days of heavy losses after the European Central Bank moved to lend $500 billion to commercial banks and Goldman Sachs and Best Buy Co. offered solid quarterly results. The Dow Jones closed up 65.3 points at 13,232.5, with 20 of its 30 components closing higher. The S&P gained 9.08 points to 1,45498, while the Nasdaq gained 21.57 points to 2,596.03.
On this day in:-
1990 - Albanian authorities formally recognised the country's first non-Communist political party.
1984 - Ted Hughes was named Poet Laureate in succession to Sir John Betjeman.
1984 - In Beijing, Great Britain and China signed an agreement for the return of Hong Kong to the sovereignty of China in 1997.
1981 - The 8-man crew of the Penlee Lifeboat all lost their lives attempting to rescue the crew of the coaster Union Star, which was wrecked in violent seas off the coast of Cornwall.
1972 - The US spacecraft Apollo 17 splashed down on target in the Pacific Ocean, bringing an end the United States Apollo programme of landing men on the Moon.
1972 - Irish footballer George Best was sacked from his club, Manchester United.
1957 - The start of a regular air service between London and Moscow.
1955 - American singer Carl Perkins recorded 'Blue Suede Shoes' in Memphis, Tennessee.
1946 - The start of war in Indo-china as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.
1941 - World War II: After a series of military setbacks, German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler dismissed his senior officers and took personal command of the German Army.
1915 - World War I: Great British, Australian and New Zealand troops began their withdrawal from Gallipoli, after failing to defeat the Turks.
1909 - Juan Gomez seized power in Venezuela.
1905 - The London County Council (LCC) sets up Great Britain's first motorised ambulance service, for the victims of traffic accidents.
1863 - In London, Frederick Walton patented a new floor covering called linoleum.
1842 - United States of America recognised the independence of Hawaii.
1793 - Napoleon Bonaparte took the French port of Toulon.
1688 - William of Orange entered London.
