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

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Market Summary and Analysis for Wednesday April 25th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5827.5   -12.8

FTSE 250:  6307.5  -9.5

FTSE A/S: 2804.76   -5.57

TechMARK 100: 1905.50   -22.68

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) FTSE 100 closed lower. Gainers included: Abbey National Bank, AEA Technology Plc, Alliance & Leicester, Anglo American, Astrazeneca, Axis-Shields Plc, Bank of Scotland, Bass Plc, BG Group Plc, BP Amoco Plc, British American Tobacco, Canary Wharf, Capita Group Plc, Centrica Plc, Cobham Plc, Colt Telecom, Dimension Data, Eidos, Electronic Boutique, Fairey Group, First Technology, Genemedix Plc, GlaxoSmithKline, Halifax Group, Hiscox Plc, Imperial Tobacco, International Power, Knowledge Support Services, Lloyds TSB Group, Medisys Plc, Meggitt Plc, Misys Plc, Morrison Supermarket, Motion Media, Nycomed Amersham, Old Mutual, Orchestream Holdings, Phytopharm Plc, Railtrack, Reckitt Benckiser, Reuters Group Plc, Safeway, Schroders, Schroders NV, Shell Transport & Trading, Sherwood International, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Staffware, Telewest Communications, Torex, and Weston Medical.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• Stockbroker Beeson Gregory Group lost 12.96% after issuing a profit warning.

• Bank of Scotland and Halifax Group had spectacular gains today after confirming that they are in talks about a merger of equals.

• Electronics Boutique gained 8.70% after reporting full-year pretax profits of £7.9 million, a 182% increase, on sales of £307 million, a 22% increase.

• Vodafone Group lost today after Merrill Lynch downgraded the shares, despite reporting that for the Q1 period, data traffic on its networks accounted for 9.3% of revenues.

• Television and media companies Granada and Carlton Communications closed lower after announcing that they will align their ITV and ONdigital operations so as to save £20 million a year.

• Tobacco shares gained on rumours that US President George W. Bush is planning to cut the legal aid that has made it possible for Government lawyers to go after tobacco companies.

• Music giant EMI Group lost 5.85% on news that its merger talks with Germany's Bertelsmann Group might be called off.

• Drug shares were hot today, a day after GlaxoSmithKline reported strong earnings.

• Abbey National, Astrazeneca, and Shire Pharmaceuticals gained on the eve of their earnings reports, while Autonomy and WPP Group, also reporting numbers tomorrow, closed lower.

• Bookham Technology lost 8.33% after reporting fiscal Q1 revenue of £11.6 million, as losses also rose to £11.7 million, well higher than last year's £8.5 million losses.

• Reuters Group gained 5.27% after Lehman Brothers raised its price target on shares to 1125p, while Smith & Williamson reiterated its "buy" recommendations on the shares.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• The US after hours market looks encouraging and will likely raise the the LSE tomorrow.

• We are also on the lookout for market comments from US Federal Reserve bankers for the rest of the week.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Tuesday April 24th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5840.3   -31.0

FTSE 250:  6317.0  +5.6

FTSE A/S: 2810.33   -11.83

TechMARK 100: 1928.18   -34.52

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) FTSE 100 closed lower due to across the Atlantic performance. Gainers included: Abbey National Bank, AEA Technology Plc, Allied Domecq, Alphameric, Amvescap, Anglo American, Antisoma, ARM Holdings, Autonomy Corp, Axis-Shields Plc, Axon Group Plc, BAA Plc, Bank of Scotland, Bass Plc, BG Group Plc, Boots Co. Plc, Bright Station, British American Tobacco, Cable & Wireless Plc, Carlton Communications, Celltech Group Plc, Centrica Plc, Cobham Plc, Diageo Plc, Electronic Boutique, Energis Plc, Fairey Group, Fibernet Group, Granada Plc, GUS Plc, Halifax Group, HSBC Holdings Group, Imperial Tobacco, International Power, IQE, Jarvis Plc, J Sainsbury, Kingfisher Plc, Lattice Group Plc, Legal & General, Lloyds TSB Group, Medisys Plc, Motion Media, National Grid, Northern Rock Plc, NSB Retail Systems, Nycomed Amersham, Parity Group Plc, Photobition Plc, Phytopharm Plc, Powergen, Project Telecom, Prudential Plc, Railtrack, Reckitt Benckiser, Redbus Interhouse Plc, Reed International Plc, Ricardo Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland, Safeway, Scottish & Newcastle, Sherwood International, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Smith & Nephew, Sportsworld, Staffware, Standard Chartered Bank, Tesco Plc, Trafficmaster, United Business Media, United Utilities, and Weston Medical.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• Anglo American gained 1.60% after De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer and Anglo American CEO Tony 耠 Trahar met with major De Beers shareholders today in Cape Town so as to seek their approval for the £11.3 billion offer from Anglo American led DB Investment consortium.

• Reuters Group lost 6.67% after reporting fiscal Q1 sales of £970 million, a 17% increase. Reuters however warned that its fiscal Q2 sales will be lower than this.

• Royal Bank of Scotland gained 0.55% after its CEO Fred Goodwin confirmed that the giant banking company is eyeing acquisitions in the US.

• Defensive shares like utilities, banking and supermarkets gained.

• Parthus closed unchanged after reporting fiscal Q1 revenue of $9.8 million, a 58% increase, but losses also increased by 33% to $3.0 million.

• GlaxoSmithKline lost 1.38% after reporting fiscal Q1 pre-tax profits of £1.4 billion, a 19% increase, on sales of £4.8 billion, a 16% increase.

• Fibernet gained 3.17% after reporting that for the 6 months ending February, its pre-tax profits rose to £3.2 million, a 118% increase, on sales of £24.6 million, a 35% increase.

• Electronics Boutique gained on the eve of its earnings report, while Bookham and P&O, also reporting tomorrow, closed lower.

• Northern Rock gained 2.26% after issuing a trading statement that Q1 trading was "very strong", and that its net lending was up 25% from year ago, as the housing market continues to pick up.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• The US after hours market looks encouraging and will likely raise the the LSE tomorrow.

• We are also on the lookout for market comments from US Federal Reserve bankers for the rest of the week.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Monday April 23rd. 2001

FTSE 100: 5871.3   -8.5

FTSE 250:  6311.4  -1.4

FTSE A/S: 2822.26   -3.49

TechMARK 100: 1962.70   -41.06

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed lower due to profit taking. Gainers included: Abbey National Bank, Action Computer Supplies, AEA Technology Plc, AIT Group Plc, Allied Domecq, Associated British Foods, Astrazeneca Plc, Axis-Shields Plc, Axon Group Plc, BAA Plc, BATM Advanced Communications, Baltimore Technology, BG Group Plc, Biocompatibles, Blue Circle Industries, BOC Group Plc, Boots Co. Plc, BP Amoco, British American Tobacco, BskyB Plc, Cadbury Schweppes Plc, Cambridge Antibody Technology, Capita Group, Cedar Group Plc, Centrica Plc, Diageo Plc, Dimension Data, Eircom Plc, Enodis Plc, Filtronic Plc, First Technology, GlaxoSmithKline, Imperial Tobacco, Indigovision Group, Intec Telecom, Lattice Group Plc, Marks & Spencer, M.L. Labs, Morrison Supermarkets, NSB Retail Systems, Nycomed Amersham, Parity Group Plc, Pearson Plc, Phytopharm Plc, Powergen, Railtrack, Reckitt Benckiser, Redbus Interhouse Plc, Reed International Plc, Ricardo Plc, RM, Rolls Royce Plc, Safeway, Scoot.Com, Scottish & Newcastle, Scottish Power, Shell Transport & Trading, Sherwood International, Smith & Nephew, Staffware, TTP Communications, Turbo Genset Plc, Unilever Plc, and Zen Research.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• Anglo American lost 1.13% after De Beers Managing Director Gary Ralfe confirmed at a Johannesburg Business School that there is no second offer for the company besides the £11.3 billion offer from Anglo American, the Oppenheimer family, and the Government of Botswana consortium. Mr. Ralfe made the comment in reply to major shareholders' comments that they will reject the offer as being too small. De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer, part of the board that thinks the offer is good, is scheduled to meet with Old Mutual executives to see if he can persuade the company to back sell through its 8% stake in the company. Anglo American already owns 40% of De Beers, and only needs 15% in favour of it to acquire the company.

• GlaxoSmithKline gained 2.09% on the eve of its fiscal Q1 earnings report, while Reuters Group, which is also scheduled to report tomorrow, closed 5.25% lower.

• BP Amoco gained 2.14% after agreeing to pay $804,700 in fines for violating a US Federal Clean Air Act. In 1994, then Atlantic Richfield, now part of BP Amoco, dumped 162,500 galloons of oil in a river in Kansas.

• Healthcare firm Nycomed Amersham gained 1.78% after stating that 2 of its core businesses saw double digit sales growth in Q1.

• Oil shares closed higher after ExxonMobil of the US reported very strong Q1 earnings.

• Technology and telecommunications shares closed lower after it looked imminent that the NASDAQ, the technology-heavy exchange, was going to close lower.

• Rolls Royce closed 3.96% higher after the Sunday Times recommended the company as a "buy".

• OneMonday Group lost 31.58% after issuing an earnings warning for the rest of year 2001 financial outlook.

• Serviced offices company, Regus, lost 12.98% after Merrill Lynch placed 29.9 million shares up for sale as venture capital companies start cashing in their stakes.

• Action Computer Supplies gained 11.89% on speculation of a possible takeover, though the company has confirmed it hasn't received  an offer.

• Catering equipment maker Enodis gained 12.98% after announcing that it is selling its building and consumer products unit to Nobia A.B. of Sweden for £134 million.

• Reuters Group lost 5.25% after a report in London's Financial News stated that 5 banks intend to block Reuters' bid for assets of US rival Bridge Information Systems on fears that Reuters will end up with too much influence on financial information.

• Irish telecom, Eircom, gained 3.85% after a consortium headed by Irish media magnate Tony O'reilly and investment superstar George Soros, made known today that it plans to offer up to $2.44 billion for the fixed-line phone assets of Eircom. The Consortium also includes the investment banks Goldman Sachs, Providence Equity Partners, and Warburg Pincus.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• US markets closed lower and have being losing in after hours trading. The LSE will likely close lower tomorrow.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Friday April 20th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5879.8   +8.2

FTSE 250:  6312.8  +63.0

FTSE A/S: 2825.75   +7.56

TechMARK 100: 2003.76   +11.01

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) FTSE 100 closed higher, as the TechMARK closed above the 2000 mark. Gainers included: AEA Technology Plc, AIT Group Plc, Anglo American, Amvescap Plc, Anite Group Plc, Associated British Foods, Autonomy Corp, BAA Plc, BAE Systems Plc, Bass Plc, BATM Advanced Communications, Billiton Plc, Biocompatibles, Blue Circle Industries Plc, BOC Group Plc, Bookham Technology, BP Amoco, British Airways, British American Tobacco, British Telecom, BskyB Plc, Cadbury Schweppes Plc, Carlton Communications, Cedar Group Plc, Cobham Plc, Colt Telecom, Compass Group Plc, Diageo Plc, Egg Plc, Eidos Plc, Emblaze Systems, Energis Plc, Euro Sales Finance, Fibernet Group Plc, Filtronic Plc, GKN Plc, GlaxoSmithKline, Granada Plc, Guardian IT, GUS Plc, Hanson Plc, Hays Plc, Hilton group Plc, Imagination Tech, Imperial Tobacco, Indigovision Group, Intec Telecom, Interx, Invensys, Kewill Systems, Kidde Plc, Kingfisher Plc, Kingston Communications, Knowledge Management Software, Land Securities, Lattice Group Plc, Legal & General, London Bridge Software, Marconi Plc, Medisys Plc, Meggitt Plc, Misys Plc, M.L. Labs, Morse Plc, Motion Media, Nycomed Amersham, Orchestream Holdings, Pace Micro Tech, Parthus Plc, Parity Group Plc, Powerject Pharmaceuticals, Psion Plc, Prudential Plc, Recognition Systems, Redbus Interhouse Plc, Reed International Plc, Renishaw Plc, Renkotil Initial, Ricardo Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Riversoft Plc, RM, Royal & Sun Alliance, Royalblue Group, Sage Group Plc, Schroders N.V., Schipher, Scoot.Com, Scottish & Southern Energy, Shell Transport & Trading, Sherwood International, Smith & Nephew, Smiths Group, Spirent Plc, Surfcontrol, TE Group Plc, Telewest Communications, Telework Group, Tesco Plc, Thus Plc, TTP Communications, Turbo Genset Plc, Ultra Electronics Holdings, Unilever Plc, United Business Media, Weston Medical, Whitebread Holdings Plc, WPP Group Plc, and Zen Research.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• BskyB, Granada, United Business Media, and WPP Group gained after Goldman Sachs selected them as its top media picks. Pearson, although selected too, closed lower.

• Autonomy Corp, Bookham Technology, and GlaxoSmithKline gained on the eve of their financial reports next week. Abbey National and Astrazeneca, also reporting next week, closed lower and unchanged respectively.

• Whitebread Holdings gained 0.83% after its shareholders approved the sale of its pubs and bars division to Fairbar Ltd.

• Online bank Egg Plc. gained 1.70% after announcing that it is on track to break even in Q1 2001. Egg also stated that for the first quarter (Q1 2001) of this year, it added 224,000 new customers, a 60% increase since Q4 2000!

• Reuters Group lost 1.05% after announcing the fiscal Q1 financial results of its wholesale share dealing ECN, Instinet. Instinet's sales rose 24% to $431 million, while net income rose 18% to $50 million. Reuters is planning the demerger of Instinet.

• British Telecom gained 2.24% on rumours that it is in talks with partner, AT&T of the US, to sell its stake in their joint venture Concert. British Telecom has being selling assets lately so as to cut down its debts.

• Software developer and consulting company, Cedar Group, gained 15.48% after reassuring investors that it will meet its full year forecast.

• Insurance giant Prudential gained 3.50% after reporting that total new life assurance and investment sales rose a better than expected 29% to £5 billion.

• Supermarket giant Kingfisher gained 0.21% on a German online news story that the UK company is about to acquire German DIY chain Obi.

• Anglo American gained 3.27% on reports that the major shareholders of diamond giant De Beers, are going to reject the takeover offer of £12.1 billion from Anglo American, Government of Botswana, and the Oppenheimer family as being too small. The board of De Beers has already approved the offer, which was a 31% premium when announced on January 31st.

• Drug giant Astrazeneca closed unchanged after announcing that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apotex Corp. and Torpharm for infringing on the patents of its highly successful heartburn and ulcers fighting drug Prilosec™.

• Defensive shares like oil, drugs, and tobacco recovered today, while banking shares closed lower.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• We are expecting next week to be the determining factor as to whether this market has turned the corner.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Thursday April 19th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5871.6   -18.6

FTSE 250:  6249.8  +42.9

FTSE A/S: 2818.19   -3.99

TechMARK 100: 1992.75   +8.52

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) FTSE 100 closed lower while technology shares continued their rise and lifted the TechMARK. Gainers included: Abbey National Bank Plc, AIT Group Plc, Alliance Leicester Plc, Anglo American, Anite Group Plc, ARM Holdings, Autonomy Corp, Azlan Plc, Bank of Scotland, Barclays Plc, Bass Plc, Billiton Plc, Biocompatibles, Bioglan Pharmaceuticals, BOC Group Plc, Boots Co. Plc, BP Amoco, BTG Plc, Capita Group, Cambridge Antibody Technology, Cedar Group Plc, CGNU Plc, Colt Telecom, Compass Group Plc, Daily Mail, Diagonal Plc, Egg Plc, Eidos Plc, Electrocomponent Plc, EMI Group Plc, Emblaze Systems, Energis Plc, Fairey Group Plc, Fibernet Group Plc, F.I. Group Plc, Filtronic Plc, GKN Plc, Guardian IT, GUS Plc, Hanson Plc, Hays Plc, ICI Plc, Imagination Tech, Indigovision Group, Independent Insurance Plc, Intec Telecom, Invensys, IQE, ISoft Group Plc, Kewill Systems, Kingfisher Plc, Land Securities, Lloyds TSB Plc, London Bridge Software, Misys Plc, Morse Plc, Motion Media, NXT Plc, Orchestream Holdings, Pace Micro Tech, Parthus Plc, Prudential Plc, Recognition Systems, Redbus Interhouse Plc, Reuters Group Plc, Ricardo Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Riversoft Plc, Rolls Royce Plc, Royal & Sun Alliance, Royal Bank of Scotland, Royalblue Group, Sage Group Plc, Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, Smiths Group, Spirent Plc, Staffware, Telewest Communications, TTP Communications, United Business Media, Vodafone Group Plc, Weston Medical, WPP Group Plc, and Zen Research.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• The European Union zone inflation rate was unchanged in March. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) held steady at 2.6%, while the Core CPI, which excludes volatile alcohol, energy, food, and tobacco gained slightly to 1.8%.

• Drugs giants GlaxoSmithKline and Astrazeneca lost after withdrawing their lawsuits against the Government of South Africa. The South African government is planning to force AIDS drug makers operating in its country to make the drugs available cheap in the country.

• Baltimore Technology lost 5.03% today despite being the most heavily bought shares by bargain hunters in a couple of weeks now.

• Online bank Egg Plc. gained 2.77% on the eve of its earnings report.

• Software company CMG Plc. lost 18.74% after warning that its mobile phone text messaging unit will loss £30 million in the first half of this year. CMG Plc. also gave a doomsday outlook for its other products.

• Bioglan Pharmaceuticals gained 0.73% after reporting that its pre-tax profits rose to £12.5 million on a sales of £101 million.

• Insurance company CGNU Plc. gained 3.01% after reporting that new pensions and life insurance sales in the first quarter rose 23% to £3.3 billion.

• Independent Insurance, the troubled insurance company that has issued lots of earnings warnings lately, gained 1.14% after its CEO Michael Bright resigned.

• Defensive stocks like supermarkets and oil were less pressured today.

• Banking shares rallied as optimism continue to ride high on increased business activity after the Federal Reserve Bank of the US cut interest rates.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• US markets closed strong and look strong in after hours. We expect the LSE to broaden its gains tomorrow, especially software related share.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Wednesday April 18th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5894.7   +133.6

FTSE 250:  6206.9  +65.9

FTSE A/S: 2821.51   +56.51

TechMARK 100: 1985.33   +148.24

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) rallied today after the US Federal Reserve FOMC surprised the market by cutting interest rates today, 3 weeks ahead of their meeting (for more info, visit our Federal Reserve Policy Monitoring Page). Gainers included: Abbey National Bank Plc, Alphameric Plc, Amvescap Plc, ARM Holdings, Associated British Foods, Autonomy Corp, Axon Group, Baltimore Technologies, Beeson Gregory, Bookham Technology, British Airways, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Capita Group, Colt Telecom, Diagonal Plc, Dimension Data, Emblaze Systems, Eidos Plc, Eircom Plc, Energis Plc, Fairey Group Plc, Fibernet Group Plc, F.I. Group Plc, Filtronic Plc, Galen Holdings, Granada Plc, Imagination Tech, IQE, ISoft Group Plc, Kingston Communications, Logica Plc, London Bridge Software, Marconi Plc, Misys Plc, NXT Plc, Pace Micro Tech, Parthus Plc, Pearson Plc, Psion Plc, Reuters Group Plc, Riversoft Plc, Royalblue Group, Sage Group Plc, Spirent Plc, Staffware, Standard Chartered Bank, Surfcontrol, Telewest Communications, Telework Group, and Vodafone Group Plc.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• British Airways gained 4.65% despite warning that its March revenues will be affected by the US economic slowdown, computer problems, and fewer traffic to the UK due to the Foot-and-Mouth disease.

• Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline lost 3.32% despite a study from Case Western Reserve University in the USA showed that women on its anti-depressant Wellbutrin™ had increase in sexual interest and arousal.

• Misys gained 24.43% after issuing a trading statement after close yesterday that its performance is in line with estimates.

• Capita Group gained 5.17% after issuing a trading statement that its current performance is significantly ahead of the same period last year.

• Associated British Foods gained 1.09% after reporting that its first half pretax profits rose 12% to £191 million, while sales rose 4%.

• NXT, the flat speaker maker, gained 27.36% after announcing that it has secured licensing agreements with a major mobile phone technology company.

• Technology shares rallied today after Cisco Systems of the US reported fiscal Q1 earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.

• Media shares gained after AOL Time Warner reported fiscal Q1 losses that were below Wall Street estimates.

• Defensive shares lost as funds rotated to technology and telecommunications shares.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• US markets closed strong and look strong in after hours. We expect the LSE to broaden its gains tomorrow.

indexbody --> Visit our sister portal to read more on our analysis and summary of the  United States

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Market Summary and Analysis for Tuesday April 17th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5761.1   -5.5

FTSE 250:  6141.0  -7.4

FTSE A/S: 2765.00   -2.85

TechMARK 100: 1837.09   -40.76

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed lower after a long weekend as earnings warning from US networking giant Cisco Systems pulled technology shares down. Gainers included: Abbey National Bank Plc, AEA Technology, Aegis Plc, Alphameric Plc, Amvescap Plc, Astrazeneca, BAE Systems, BG Group, BP Amoco, British American Tobacco, Cadbury Schweppes Plc, Centrica,  Diageo Plc, EMI Group Plc, Galen Holdings, GKN Plc, GlaxoSmithKline, Guardian IT, Hanson Plc, Hays Plc, Henry Boot Plc, J Sainsbury, Kingfisher Plc, Marks & Spencer, M.L. Labs, New Look Plc, Pressac Plc, Royalblue Group, Safeway Plc, Shell Transport & Trading, Smiths Group Plc, Staffware, Surfcontrol, Telework Group, Ted Baker Plc, Tesco Plc, Torex Plc, Turbo Genset Plc, Unilever Plc, United Utilities, WPP Group, and Zen Research.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• Software developer Ffastfill lost 29.79% after warning that its full year sales ending March 31st. will be significantly lower than expected.

• Engineering and Helicopter concern GKN Plc. gained 1.68% on news over the weekend that the merger of its industrial services unit with Brambles of Australia is nearing completion.

• Defensive shares like supermarkets and drugs were some of the best performers today.

• Biotechnology company Oxford Biomedica lost after announcing that it raised £5.5 million in the sale of new shares on the open market. Oxford Biomedica planned to sell £10 million worth of shares, but was forced to cut back due to the tough market conditions.

• Oil related shares gained due to a refinery fire at one of Conoco's largest UK refineries.

• Vodafone Group lost 3.19% to close at 205p after Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the stock to 296p a share. Vodafone also announced the first live call over its Third Generation (3G) mobile phone network Monday.

• Scottish Power lost 0.82% despite weekend news reports that Italian utilities giant Enel is interested in paying £800 million for its Southern Water unit.

• Associated British Foods lost 1.89% on the eve of its earnings report. Analysts are concerned about its Australian operations.

• Kalamazoo Computer lost 16% after warning that its full year losses will be worse than previously thought.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• US markets closed strong and look strong in after hours after good earnings reports from Intel, Texas Instruments, etc. We expect the LSE to be strong tomorrow and reverse recent losses too.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Thursday April 12th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5766.6   -21.3

FTSE 250:  6148.4  +1.8

FTSE A/S: 2767.85   -8.05

TechMARK 100: 1877.85   -11.65

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed lower, due mostly to how weak US markets were at the LSE closing. Gainers included: Aberdeen Asset Management, AEA Technology, AIT Group, Alphameric Plc, Antisoma, Arc International, ARM Holdings, Atlantic Telecom, BAE Systems, Bass Plc, Billiton Plc, BG Group, British Telecom, Cambridge Antibody Tech, Canary Wharf, Celltech Group Plc, Claims Direct, CMG Plc, Computacenter, Daily Mail, Diagonal Plc, Energis Plc, Fibernet Group, Galen Holdings, Granada Plc, Guardian IT, GUS Plc, GWR Group Plc, Hanson Plc, Hays Plc, Indigovision Group Plc, International Power, IQE, Land Securities, Marks & Spencer, Medisys Plc, Mentore Abbey, Morse Plc, Northgate Information Solutions, Pace Micro Tech, Parthus Tech, PGA European Tours, Phytopharm, Psion Plc, Redbus Interhouse, Reed International, Rentokil Initial, Reuters Group Plc, Ricardo Plc, Royalblue Group, Royal Sun & Alliance, Schroders, Telemetrix Plc, Thus Plc, UBC Media, United Business Media, Unilever Plc, United Utilities, and Zen Research.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• WEEKEND NEWS: The Sunday Business reported that the Italian power firm Enel is planning a £800 million bid for Scottish Power's Southern Water unit.

• WEEKEND NEWS: The Sunday Business reported that Japan's Nomura Securities and the US hotel chain Marriott, are planning a joint £2 billion bid for Le Meridien Hotel chain, a unit of Compass Group.

• WEEKEND NEWS: The Sunday Business reported that telecommunications equipment maker Marconi is planning to raise about £1.5 billion by selling its US medical equipment unit.

• WEEKEND NEWS: Newspapers reported on Friday that the Nigerian Government and the UK have ironed out a deal where Virgin Atlantic will join British Airways on the lucrative Lagos-London route.

• WEEKEND NEWS: On Friday, it was announced that British Telecom now have options worth $550.1 million to buy up to 5% in Japan's Third largest wireless phone company Japan Telecom.

• WEEKEND NEWS: Baltimore Technology made known Friday that about £1.3 million worth of deals were shelved by clients due to its earnings warning.

• WEEKEND NEWS: Diageo Plc., the parent of Guiness, is facing a strike after closing a packaging plant in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland.

• Aberdeen Asset Management gained 3.45% after announcing that it is paying £86 million to acquire rival Life Assurance Holding Corp.

• WH Smith lost 8.14% after reporting interim pretax profits of £100 million on a turnover of £1.44 billion, a 6% increase. WH Smith also reported that its UK stores like-for-like sales rose 9% for the first 5 weeks of the year.

• Golf courses operators PGA European Tours gained 1.43% despite reporting that bad weather affected business in the first quarter.

• Irish Internet security software firm Baltimore Technologies lost 19.57% after issuing its second financial warning today. Baltimore Technologies expects fiscal Q1 sales to come in about £23.7 million, a 5.2% drop from previous estimates.

• Associated British Foods, Bioglan Pharmaceuticals, and Egg™ all closed lower as they are set to report earnings next week.

• Airport operator BAA Plc. lost 0.87% after reporting that March airport passenger traffic rose a measly 1.1%.

• GUS Plc. gained 4.79% after HSBC Holdings upgraded the shares from "add" to "buy". 

• Rolls Royce lost 0.71% despite announcing a £450 million contract to supply 90 aircraft engines to Midwest Express Airlines of the US.

• UBC Media gained 8.20% after announcing that it will form a joint venture with GWR Group to create the world's first commercial radio data service. GWR Group gained 0.57%.

• Media and publishing giant Reuters Group gained 0.3% after announcing today that it has made a formal bid for bankrupt rival Bridge Information's core US institutional securities business.

• Mortgage banker Alliance & Leicester lost 2.19% despite rumours that the National Australia Bank might make a bid for it.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• US markets closed strong and look good. The LSE should be strong next market day too.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Wednesday April 11th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5788.1   -14.9

FTSE 250:  6146.6  +37.2

FTSE A/S: 2775.90   -2.95

TechMARK 100: 1889.50   +53.10

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed mixed as the FTSE 100 closed lower, while the TechMark rose, thanks to the continuing recovery in technology stocks. Gainers included: AEA Technology, Anite Group, Antisoma, Arc International, ARM Holdings, Autonomy Corp, Azlan Group Plc, BAA Plc, BAE Systems, Baltimore Technology, Barclays Plc, Billiton Plc, Bookham Technology Plc, British Airways, BTG Group, Cambridge Antibody Tech, Capita Group, Cedar Group Corp, Celltech Group Plc, Centrica Plc, Claims Direct, Cobham Plc, Colt Telecom, Compass Group, Daily Mail, Dimension Data Plc, Eidos Plc, Electrocomponent, Emblaze Systems, Fairey Group, Fibernet Group, Guardian IT, Gus, Hilton Plc, Invensys Plc, IQE, JJ Sports, Kingfisher Plc, Logica Plc, London Bridge Software, Marconi Plc, Misys Plc, Morrison Supermarket, Morse Plc, Northgate Information Solutions, Old Mutual, Orchestream Holdings, Pace Micro Tech, Parthus Tech, Phytopharm, Psion Plc, Redbus Interhouse, Renishaw Plc, Reuters Group Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Riversoft, Royal Bank of Scotland, Royalblue Group, Sherwood International, South African Breweries, Spirent Plc, Staffware, Surfcontrol, Telecity, Telework Group, and TTP Communications.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• UK number of unemployed dropped by a seasonally adjusted 5,500 in March. UK number of unemployed is still below a million and the Unemployment Rate held steady at 3.3%.

• Dimension Data gained 3.21% after announcing that it will buy the remaining 40% of PT Datacraft Indonesia for £11 million.

• Chip designer ARM Holdings gained 10% after announcing that it will moderate its recruitment until the markets improve.

• Biotechnology company Antisoma gained 7% after announcing an agreement with Sweden's BioInvent International to co-develop a brain cancer drug called AngioMab.

• WH Smith lost 1.22% on the eve of its earnings report.

• Biotechnology company and creators of Dolly™ a cloned sheep PPL Therapeutics lost 2.21% despite announcing the creation of the first transgenetic cloned pig - a step from creating xeno organs for human transplants.

• SR Pharmaceuticals lost 77.83% on news that its cancer drug SRL 172 proved inconclusive in phase III trials. 

• Rolls Royce lost 0.71% despite announcing a £450 million contract to supply 90 aircraft engines to Midwest Express Airlines of the US.

• Semiconductor chip related shares gained after Schroder Salomon Smith Barney stated that the sector has it its cyclical bottom and ready to pick up.

• Banking related shares performed rather well considering the the European Central Bank (ECB) held interest rates steady.

• Retailer GUS (Great Universal Stores) gained 12.08% after announcing that its Argos, Burberry, and Experian businesses have reported strong performances. GUS however, admitted that the slowdown in the US is beginning to take its tow.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• US markets closed strong and look good in after hours after Yahoo! and Research in Motion reported earnings that were above estimates - watch for the LSE to pick up tomorrow. Bad economic news can however, change the momentum.

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Market Summary and Analysis for Tuesday April 10th. 2001

FTSE 100: 5803.0   +139.7

FTSE 250:  6109.4  +66.1

FTSE A/S: 2778.85   +60.63

TechMARK 100: 1836.40   +87.32

SUMMARY

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) closed higher as US shares rallied. Gainers included: Alliance & Leicester, Allied Domecq, Anglo American, Antisoma, Arc International, ARM Holdings, BAA Plc, BAE Systems, Baltimore Technology, Bank of Scotland, Barclays Plc, Bass Plc, BG Group Plc, Billiton Plc, Bookham Technology Plc, BP Amoco Plc, British Airways, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Cambridge Antibody Tech, Canary Wharf, Carlton Communications, CMG Plc, Cobham Plc, Colt Telecom, Debenhams Plc, Dimension Data Plc, Dixons Group Plc, Eidos Plc, Emblaze Systems, EMI Group Plc, Energis Plc, Filtronic, Indigovision Group Plc, Inter-Alliance, Invensys Plc, IQE, Kewill Systems, Kidde Plc, Kingston Communications, Lattice Group Plc, Logica Plc, London Bridge Software, Marconi Plc, Misys Plc, Orchestream Holdings, Oxford Glycosciences, Pace Micro Tech, Pearson Plc, Psion Plc, Phytopharm, Redbus Interhouse, Renishaw Plc, Reuters Group Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Rolls Royce Plc, Sage Group Plc, Shell Transport & Trading, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Smiths Group, Spirent Plc, Standard Chartered Bank, Telewest Communications, Thus Plc,  Torex Plc, Trafficmaster, TTP Communications, United Business Media, Vodafone Group Plc, and WPP Group.

REASONS FOR ACTIVITIES

• Marconi gained 10% after announcing that it will cut 3,000 jobs and take a £400 million charge in the next year.

• Spirent gained 9.84% after announcing a contract with US telecommunications company Qwest Communications International.

• Reuters Group gained 4.74% after announcing that it will submit a bid for parts of its rival media giant Bridge Information.

• Software and consulting company Cedar gained 14.68% after reassuring investors that it is still in "sound financial health".

• Biotechnology company PPL Therapeutics lost 14.77% after canceling a planned open offering to raise £45 million.

• Debenhams gained 5.26% after reporting half year pretax profits of £80.8 million, a 9.5% increase. Sales rose 11.9% for the period. 

• Tesco lost 3.81% after reporting underlying pretax profits for the year to February at £1.07 billion, a 12% increase and in line with city analysts' estimates.

• Prudential lost after The Times newspaper reported that the insurance giant is planning to sue AIG over its counter offer for American General. Investors seem to be saying they are satisfied with the hefty breakup fee Prudential got.

• IT company Torex gained 5.62% after reporting that its fiscal Q1 results will be "significantly ahead" of the year before.

• ARM Holdings gained 9.80% on the eve of its earnings report.

• National IFAs chain Inter-Alliance gained 10.68% after reporting results that saw a 235% increase in sales to £30 million for a profit of £400,000. Inter-Alliance also announced that its advisors have doubled to 1,200.

PICKS FOR NEXT MARKET DAY

• US markets closed very strong today. We are however, cautious that there might be some profit taking on both sides of the Atlantic tomorrow, thus pushing share prices down.

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