This Morning in London major shares were little changed in opening deals, although miners continued to perform well. Lonmin (LMI) was up 76p at 3,267p and Vedanta Resources (VED) added 49p to 2,241p. Meanwhile, the banking sector rallied after yesterday's drop as ongoing credit concerns add to volatility in the sector. Barclays (BARC) rose 13p to 553p early on, while Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which announced it is to retain former ABN Amro unit Hoare Govett, added 8.5p to 451.75p. By 9:25 the FTSE-100 had sprung to life and was up 38.4 points at 6,387.5. The FTSE-250 was ahead 71.1 points at 10,735.8.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
ABN Amro downgrades Mitchells and Butlers (MAB) to hold from buy.
Citigroup initiates coverage of Provident Financial (PFG) with a buy and 930p target and International Personal Finance (IPF) with a hold and 240p target.
The broker reiterates sell and 780p target for Alliance & Leicester (AL.), reiterates sell Bradford & Bingley (BB.) with a 300p target, has a buy and 430p target for Britvic (BVIC), upgrades FKI (FKI) to hold/high risk from hold/medium risk, cutting target to 90p from 100p, has a hold and 250p target for Halma (HLMA), a buy and 155p target for Henderson Group (HGI), a hold for Holidaybreak (HBR), cutting target to 750p from 870p, a sell and 120p target for JJB Sports (JJB), a hold for Kingfisher (KGF), cutting target to 170p from 210p, downgrades RPS Group (RPS) to sell from hold, cutting target to 300p from 365p and has a hold and 740p target for United Utilities (UU.).
Credit Suisse has an outperform rating for Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) with a 243p price target.
Deutsche Bank downgrades Severn Trent (SVT) to hold from buy with a £15 target and Northumbrian Water (NWG) to hold from buy with a 340p target.
Goldman Sachs downgrades BSkyB (BSY) to sell from neutral with a 600p target.
ING reiterates hold Vodafone (VOD), raising target to 195p from 185p.
KBC Peel Hunt has a buy for Rightmove (RMV) and a hold on Axon (AXO).
Lehman Bros downgrades Spirent (SPT) to equal-weight from overweight and upgrades Northern Foods (NFDS) to overweight from equal-weight.
Morgan Stanley downgrades Go-Ahead Group (GOG) to underweight from equal-weight and upgrades Sage Group (SGE) to overweight from equal-weight.
Numis has a buy and 325p target for NBT (NBT), and add and 205p target for ITE (ITE), an add and 373p target for Marston's (MARS), a buy and 310p target for Premier Foods (PFD) and hold and 450p target for Tate & Lyle (TATE).
Panmure Gordon has a hold on Alliance & Leicester (AL.) cutting target to 690p form £10, a buy and £10 target for Axon (AXO), a sell for Bradford & Bingley (BB.), cutting target to 210p from 218p, a buy for Creston (CRE), cutting target to 130p from 175p, a hold and 365p target for Marston's (MARS), a buy and 280p target for NCipher (NCH), a buy and 318p target for RPC (RPC) and a hold for SThree (STHR), cutting target to 218p from 360p.
Sanford Bernstein reiterates outperform Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), cutting target to 690p from 675p.
Seymour Pierce reiterates buy for China Shoto (CHNS), has a buy for Stanley Gibbons (SGI) and reiterates outperform for SThree (STHR).
UBS initiates coverage of CSR (CSR) with a buy and 770p target.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks rose for a third day, ending mildly higher after the stock market's biggest two-day jump up in five years, as mostly bearish economic news competed with thoughts of another interest-rate cut ahead. Up and down throughout the day, the Dow Jones rose 22.3 points to close at 13,311.7, with 17 of its blue-chip components finishing higher. The S&P gained 0.7 points to 1,469.72, while the Nasdaq edged up 5.22 points to 2,668.13.
On this day in:-
1840 - The remains of Napoleon Bonaparte were returned from the island of St Helena, where he died in exile, to Paris.
1872 - In Glasgow, the first international football match was played between England and Scotland and ended in a 0-0 draw.
1886 - Once a hall for operettas, pantomime, and political meetings, Les Folies Bergère in Paris introduced an elaborate revue, featuring women in sensational costumes. The highly popular Place aux Jeunes established the Folies as the premier nightspot in Paris. In the 1890’s, the Folies followed the Parisian taste for striptease and quickly gained a reputation for spectacular nude shows. The theatre spared no expense, staging revues that featured as many as 40 sets, 1,000 costumes, and an off-stage crew of some 200 people.
1913 - English-born actor Charlie Chaplin made his film debut in Mack Sennett's 'Making A Living'.
1936 - The Crystal Palace, at Sydenham in London, originally built in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, was destroyed by fire.
1939 - World War II: Russia invaded Finland.
1954 - Prime Minister Winston Churchill was presented with a controversial portrait by English artist Graham Sutherland, which was destroyed on the instruction of Lady Churchill.
1955 - The first floodlit football match at Wembley, between England and Spain.
1956 - American boxer Floyd Paterson became the youngest ever world heavyweight champion, aged 21.
1962 - Burmese statesman U Thant was elected Secretary General of the United Nations.
1988 - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was refused a visa to enter the United States of America, where he was planning to address the UN General Assembly.
