This Morning in London major shares quickly gave up opening gains, with oils, miners and banks leading the decline. Weakness in oil majors was a factor dragging the FTSE100 lower, with Shell (RDSA) losing 8p at 1.995p and BP (BP.) down 2p at 575.5p, reflecting profit-taking after gains yesterday as the crude price eased. Heavyweight blue chip miners also beat a retreat impacted by lower commodity prices and fears over the global economy, with Xstrata (XTA) down 89p at 2,860p, Antofagasta (ANTO) off 18p at 638p and Vedanta Resources (VED) down 46p at 1,880p. Kazakhmys (KAZ) was the top FTSE-100 faller, down 53p at 1,201p, impacted as well after Oleg Novachuk, the CEO of the Kazakh copper miner, gave a downbeat view on the group's earnings and production for the year yesterday. At 9:55 the FTSE-100 was down 7.9 points at 6,063.0 with the FTSE-250 off 63.7 points at 10,149.2.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Bear Sterns has reiterated outperform on Johnson Matthey (JMAT) (2000p target price) and has outperform on ICAP (IAP) (621p price target).
The broker has underperform on GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
Kaupthing reiterates buy Mothercare (MTC) (525p price target) and says buy Kesa (KESA) (390p price target).
The broker has a 400p fair value for Halfords (HFD).
KBC Peel Hunt has upgraded Paragon (PAG) to buy from sell and reiterates buy Phoenix IT (PNX).
The broker reiterates being positive on Rotork (ROR).
Seymour Pierce reiterates hold Brit Insurance (BRE) and says buy Geong International (GNG) (raising the price target to 130p from 80p) and Serabi Mining (SRB).
SG Securities has upgraded Daily Mail & General (DMGO) to hold from sell (543p target) and has reinitiated coverage of InterContinental Hotels (IHG) appending a buy recommendation and an 1130p price target.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks sahres slid to close sharply lower, as worries about bad home loans, a slumping dollar and oil near $100 a barrel led traders to take money out of the market ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Crude closed down 74 cents at $97.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier rising as high as $99.29. But the pullback only offered a brief respite for stocks. The Dow Jones finished down 211 points at 12,799, with 29 of its 30 components in the red. The S&P lost 22.9 points to 1,416, while the Nasdaq fell 34 points to 2,562.
On this day in:-
1997 - Australian rock star Michael Hutchence, boyfriend of Great British TV presenter Paula Yates, was found dead in a hotel room in Sydney, after apparently hanging himself.
1995 - Rosemary West is jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering 10 girls and young women.
1990 - Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister since 1979, announced her resignation.
1986 - 20-year old American boxer Mike Tyson became the youngest ever world heavyweight champion, defeating Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas.
1977 - The world's first supersonic airliner, Concorde, was given permission to fly into New York's Kennedy Airport, following an agreement over noise levels.
1975 - In Madrid, following the death of Spanish dictator General Franco, the monarchy was returned, with Juan Carlos being sworn in as King of Spain.
1972 - US President Richard Nixon lifted a 22-year ban on travel to China.
1963 - John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. On the afternoon of 22nd November, President Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline sat with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife in a motorcade though downtown Dallas. Riding in an open-top convertible, the Kennedy’s and Connally’s waved at the enthusiastic crowd gathered along the parade route. As their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building, 24-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired 3 shots from the 6th-floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor Connally. The 46-year-old Kennedy was pronounced dead 30-minutes later. Oswald, an ex-U.S. Marine, lived in the USSR from 1959 to 1962 and worked in Dallas as a communist organiser. Less than an hour after Kennedy was shot, Oswald killed a policemen who questioned him on the street. He was arrested shortly after in a movie theatre. On 24th November, he was shot to death in a police station by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who claimed that rage at Kennedy's murder was the motive for his action.
1946 - The first ballpoint pens went on sale, invented by the Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro.
1943 - World War II: Allied leaders Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Chiang Kai Shek met in Cairo to discuss joint operations against the Japanese.
1943 - Lebanon independence day.
1869 - The launch of English sailing ship Cutty Sark.
1849 - The Cape Colony in southern Africa forbade any further landing of convicts from Great Britain and forced a British ship to sail to Tasmania instead.
1830 - Container transport was introduced by carrier company Pickfords.
1497 - Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope in search of a route to India.
