LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY MARKET SUMMARY
AND ANALYSIS (Late Edition) ARCHIVES

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Market Summary and Analysis for Monday February 12th. 2001

FTSE 100: 6241.4   +77.1

FTSE250:  6769.1  +11.6

FTSE A/S: 3008.89   +31.35

TechMARK 100: 2632.40   +44.45

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) rallied as Telecommunications stocks rebounded. Gainers included: Abbey National Bank Plc, Amstrad Plc, Anglo American Plc, BAE Systems, Barclays Plc, Bank of Scotland, BP Amoco, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless Plc, Celtic Resources, CMG Plc, Creston Plc, Diageo Plc, GamePlay Plc, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Granada Plc, Hartest Holdings Plc, Hays Plc, Hit Entertainment, ICI Ltd, Invensys, IQE, Keller Group, LastMinute.Com, Logica Plc, London Financial Investment Group, Marconi Plc, Misys Plc, Optometrics, Oxford Glycosciences, Paladin Resources Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Sage, Sema Plc, Telewest Communications, Tesco Plc, and Vodafone Group Plc.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• Hotels and Leisure services company Compass Group lost 1.14% after announcing the acquisition of Swiss Caterer Selecta for £374 million.

• Marconi gained 3.7% after announcing that it has paid £40 million for a minority stake in ArrayComm, a company headed by mobile phone inventor Martin Cooper. The San Jose, California based company developed technology that boosts mobile phone antenna signals for mobile networks.

• Game distributor GamePlay gained 1.6% after announcing that it has signed a licensing agreement with 4 leading European digital TV platforms companies.

• Struggling Anglo-French IT services company Sema Plc. gained 16.32% after US oil services company Schlumberger announced that it is paying £3.6 billion to acquire Sema.

• BP Amoco gained 0.33% on the eve of its earnings report which are expected to be spectacular. BP Amoco also announced that it is teaming with Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) based utilities company Cinergy Corp. to build an 800 megawatts power generating plant in Texas, USA.

• Telecommunications and financial shares rebounded today.

• LastMinute.Com gained after reporting losses that were higher than the previous quarter, but in line with estimates.

• Mobile phone giant Vodafone Group gained 3.82% after announcing that it is researching with Sony, the makers of the popular PlayStation2 game, on plans to offer more games on cell phones and other mobile devices.

• Mobile phone maker Amstrad Plc. gained 7.76% after announcing that it has signed an agreement with Chinese electronics manufacturer Haier CCT to make Amstrad mobile phones for the Chinese and Taiwanese markets.

• Mining company Billiton lost 3.04% despite reporting that its first half operating profits were up about 45%, and in line with analysts estimates. Some analysts think the company is vulnerable to a takeover from other mining giants like Anglo American and Rio Tinto.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• The market will be looking for signs from the US Senate testimony of Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan. Also affecting tomorrow's performance will be earnings reports from BP Amoco, Reuters, and Zen Research.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Friday February 9th. 2001

FTSE 100: 6164.3   -41.8

FTSE250:  6757.5  -30.8

FTSE A/S: 2977.54   -18.80

TechMARK 100: 2587.95   -53.38

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed lower thanks to the poor performance of Telecommunications stocks. Gainers included: AEA Technology, AIT Group, Alkane Energy, Alphameric, Alstom S.A., BAE Systems, BG Group Plc, Billiton Plc, Blacks Leisure, BP Amoco, Cambridge Antibody, Cedar group, Celltech Group, Centrica Plc, Enic Plc, Fibernet Group, F.I. Group, Filtronic Plc, Galen Holdings, Havelock Europa, House of Frazer, Huntingdon Life Sciences, Indigovision Group, Innovation Group, IQE, Keller Group, Lattice Group, Meggitt Plc, Merant Plc, Microgen Plc, Morse Plc, Nycomed Amersham, Parity Group, Parthus Technology, RM Plc, Scoot.Com, Sema Plc, Shell Transport & Trading, Shire Pharmaceutical Group, Slimma, SurfControl, Telecity, Telemetrix, Thistle Hotel, Weston medical, Whatman Plc, and Xenova Group.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• BskyB lost 5.98% on a Merrill Lynch downgrade. Word is that Rupert Murdock is interested in owning 100% of the Satellite company.

• Gas distributors BG Group, Centrica, and Lattice Group gained after Centrica made known its intension to raise prices. Centrica was upgraded to a "buy" recommendation by UBS Warburg.

• Oil shares rose as oil prices continue to hover around the $30 a barrel mark. Brent crude closed down slightly today at $29.60 a barrel.

• Celltech Group gained 4.59% after UBS Warburg reiterated its "strong buy" recommendation.

• Marconi Plc. lost 2.4% after announcing that it has sold its millions of share in French industrial group Alstom. Alstom however, gained.

• Shell Transport and trading gained 2.91% after it was known that the oil giant repurchased £1 million worth of its shares.

• Online retailer QXL Ricardo lost 7.69% as investors await its earnings figures next week.

• Software developer Autonomy Corp lost 9.7% after Enic Plc. called a special meeting to decide on how to dispose of its 2.8% stake in Autonomy. Enic Plc. gained.

• Mounting concerns about telecommunications companies' debts pulled down the sector and the major indices today. Mobile phone giant Vodafone Group closed at its lowest point in 2 years.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• Next week will mirror the dismal performance of this week. Unless of course, a drastic piece of news changes things. The markets were expected to give a rally to repo rate cut by the Bank of England, but nothing materialized - and that is a very bad sign that the worst is not yet over.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Thursday February 8th. 2001

FTSE 100: 6206.1   -19.5

FTSE250:  6788.3  +25.0

FTSE A/S: 2996.34   -6.26

TechMARK 100: 2641.33   +5.93

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed mixed as technology struggled to post a positive despite the Bank of England's lower of the Repo rate. Gainers included: Alliance & Leicester, Allied Domecq, Amvescap Plc, Autonomy Corp, BAA Plc, Bank of Scotland, Barclays Plc, Bass Plc, Billiton Plc, Bookham Technology Plc, BP Amoco, British American Tobacco, Carphone Wireless, Compass Group, Daily Mail, Diageo Plc, Dimension Data, ECsoft Group, Edinburgh Tiger, Electronic Boutique, Exel, Granada Plc, Gus, Halifax Group, Hanson Plc, Hilton Group, HSBC Holdings, J Sainbury, Land Securities, Laura Ashley Plc, Lloyds TSB, Marconi Plc, Marks & Spencer Plc, Matalan Plc, Misys Plc, National Grid, New Look Plc, Railtrack, Reed International Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland, Safeway Plc, Schroders, Seafield Plc, selfridges Plc, Shell Transport & Trading Plc, Smiths Group, Spirent Plc, Stagecoach Holdings, Standard Chartered Bank, Telewest Communications, Tesco Plc, United Utilities, and Vodafone Group.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee cut the Repo rate by 25 bases points (0.25%) to 5.75%, the first cut since June 1999. Financial shares rallied on the news due to cheaper loans.

• Paint maker ICI Plc. lost 6.7% despite reporting full year pretax profits of £450 million, in line with analysts estimates.

• Drug maker Astrazeneca lost 1.4% after reporting full year pretax earnings that were in line with estimates, and 16% higher than the year before. Investors were concerned about FDA delays in approving Astrazeneca's drugs.

• Barclays Plc. gained 1.5% after reporting full year pretax profits of £3.49 billion, a 42% increase from the year before.

• Shell Transport & Trading gained 1.3% after reporting fiscal Q4 earnings increase of 60% from fiscal Q4 1999. Shell also made known that it will do a share buyback worth 3% of its issued shares. Shell stated that its multibillion pound cost cutting is going better than expected and could be completed ahead of schedule.

• British Telecom lost 8.82% despite making known that it is still on track to reduce £10 billion of its debt before this year is over with. BT also stated that the reduced IPO offering price of Orange by France Telecom will not affect its BT Wireless IPO offering. Investors didn't seem convinced.

• Media giant Reuters lost 0.5% after announcing that it has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to float an IPO for its electronic stock exchange (ECN) Instinet.

• Charterhouse Communications lost 23.1% after issuing an earnings warning.

• Retailer Laura Ashley gained 19.48% after announcing that sales were up 7% in the 6 weeks ending January 6th.

• Transportation and Warehousing firm Seafield gained 34.15% after announcing that they are in talks to be acquired for around £9 million.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• We expect the markets to end the week on a good note.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Wednesday February 7th. 2001

FTSE 100: 6225.6   -67.8

FTSE250:  6763.3  -9.6

FTSE A/S: 3002.60   -27.72

TechMARK 100: 2635.38   -83.72

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed lower as technology shares led in the decline due to the poor earnings report from Cisco Systems. The market was further pressured down when the NASDAQ looked like a free fall before the LSE closed. Gainers included: Anglesey Mining, Antisoma Plc, AWG Red, Bank of Scotland, BAE Systems, Bass Plc, Biofocus Plc, Blick Plc, Blue Circle Industries, BOC Plc, Boots Co. Plc, British American Tobacco, Cable & Wireless Plc, Cairn Energy Plc, Carphone Wireless, Courts Plc, Diagonal Plc, Dixons Group Plc, Easyjet Plc, Edinburgh Tiger, Galen Holdings, Glynwed International, Granada Plc, Halifax Group, Hitachi Credit, Huntingdon Life Sciences Plc, ICI Ltd, Imperial Chemical Plc, Imperial Tobacco Plc, Jacobs Holdings, Legal & General, Manchester United, Marks & Spencer, Nycomed Amersham, Oxford Biomedica Plc, Perpertual Plc, Ryanair Holdings, Scottish & Newcastle Plc, Sytner Group Plc, Tate & Lyle, Tesco Plc, Unilever Plc, Walker Greenbank, and Zotefoams.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• Abbey National Bank rejected the takeover offer from Lloyds TSB as being insufficient. Abbey National lost 1.94%, and Lloyds lost 1.59%.

• Paint maker ICI Plc. gained 1.15% after announcing the purchase of leading Argentina paint distributor Grandes Pinturies Del Centro so as to increase its presence in South America.

• Telecommunications shares were hit hard after France Telecom reduced the IPO offering price of Orange by 30%.

• Satellite operator BskyB lost 2.73% after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings and customer subscription services that were short of estimates.

• Manchester United gained 5.26% after announcing that it has signed a cross promotional and marketing agreement with YankeeNets, the holding company of the New York Yankees Baseball team.

• Blue Circle Industries gained 1.73% after Land Securities agreed to pay £60 million for Whitecliff Properties, Cambridge Portfolios, and 1013 acres of Kent Thames side.

• Biotechnology company Antisoma Plc. gained 0.64% after reporting that for the last half of year 2000, losses totaled only £4 million, a £1 million less losses than the previous year. Antisoma also announced that its project development is still on target.

• Tobacco stocks rallied after Brown & Williamson, a unit of British American Tobacco Plc., won a $1 million lawsuit filed by an ex-smoker who was seeking damages and payment of his medical bills.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• Tomorrow will be a loaded day. British Telecom reports its quarterly numbers, while Astrazeneca, Barclays, Imperial Chemical, and Shell report their yearly figures. The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee announce their interest rates decision by noon. Then we have the pressure technology shares are facing across the Atlantic to deal with.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Tuesday February 6th. 2001

FTSE 100: 6293.4   +24.2

FTSE250:  6772.9  +26.1

FTSE A/S: 3030.32   +11.6

TechMARK 100: 2719.10   +12.91

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) rallied thanks to the recovery of technology, Oil and banking shares. Gainers included: Abbey National Bank, Alphameric, Amvescap Plc, Antisoma Plc, Autonomy Corp, Baltimore Technologies, BOC Plc, BP Amoco Plc, Cammel Laird, Canary Wharf Plc, Capita Group, Celltech, Colt Telecom, Gearedgicil, Granada Plc, Halifax Group, HSBC Plc, ICI Ltd, Imagination Technologies, Invensys, Knowledge Management Software, Lattice Group, Legal & General, Lloyds TSB, Marconi Plc, Powergen, Pressac Plc, QXL Ricardo Plc, Recognition Systems Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Sage, Sherwood International, and Taylor Woodrow Plc.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• The National Statistics Office reported that the UK Industrial Output declined 0.6% in December. Over the year increase is now at a mere 0.5%. Manufacturing on the other hand rose 0.3% to an over the year growth of 1.6%.

• Mortgage Bankers Halifax Group reported that, UK home prices rose 0.1% in January, while the house price inflation now stands at 0.9% for the year - the lowest levels in 5 years. Most economists are convinced the Bank of England will lower interest rates by 25 bases (0.25%) when they meet tomorrow and Thursday so as to stop an economic slide.

• Lloyds TSB gained 1.6% after announcing that it is teaming up with investment bankers Goldman Sachs to launch a wealth management service targeting Europe's most affluent.

• Property Giant Canary Wharf gained 1.80% after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the company and placing it in its "recommended list".

• Tate & Lyle lost 2.20% after issuing an earnings warning.

• Electronics component maker Pressac gained 7.30% on analysts speculations that it is vulnerable for a takeover target.

• British Telecom closed lower after announcing that it is buying the remaining 49.5% stakes in Irish mobile phone company Digifone for about £1 billion.

• Recognition Systems gained 6.92% after announcing that it is One of Nine companies in Compaq's real-time information management initiative called Zero Latency Enterprise.

• Compass Group closed lower after announcing the acquisition of healthcare foodservices firm Morrison Management Specialists for £382 million.

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