SHARES STRONGLY UP/DOWN this week 12/12/05 (Master RSI)

London shares remain higher midday, property stocks up on talk of Arab
interest

LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares edged higher at the end of a quiet morning,
with speculative gains in Hilton and British Land and upbeat broker comment on
Marks & Spencer and PartyGaming lifting the FTSE 100, dealers said.
By 12.00 pm, the FTSE 100 was up 14.4 points at 5,521.6, with the broader
indices mixed.
Volume was below par, with 841.3 mln shares changing hands in 113,458 deals.
Looking ahead to Wall Street, US stocks are expected to open lower this
afternoon, as traders look like taking profits after yesterday's post Fed rate
hike rally, dealers said.
According to IG Index, the DJIA is seen down around 15 points, while the
Nasdaq is expected to open 5 points weaker.
Shares in British Land led the blue-chip risers with a gain of 20-1/2 pence
to 999, lifted by a report in this morning's Financial Times, stating that the
Abu Dhabi royal family is the favourite to acquire its property portfolio in the
City.
The agreement is thought to be worth about 800 mln stg and includes
Plantation Place South, 51 Eastcheap and 43/45 Eastcheap.
Sector peer Hammerson added 9-1/2 pence to 970-1/2, while Liberty
International edged 4-1/2 pence higher to 974 and Land Securities gained 13
pence to 1570.
GUS shares were also in demand, up 16-1/2 pence at 1,000, after its credit
information unit Experian purchased Pricegrabber.com, a provider of online
comparison shopping services in the US, for 485 mln usd.
Following the news, Merrill Lynch reiterated its 'buy' stance and increased
its price target to 1,100 pence from 995 previously.
The broker expects the deal to enhance earnings, with significant synergies
arising from integrating the business into Experian's platform. It has,
subsequently, lifted its forecast for 2007 earnings per share to 1.23 usd.
Investec reiterated its 'buy recommendation on the stock, saying Experian
has a "good history of making acquisitions work".
Marks & Spencer was another gainer, up 10 at 488, after CSFB lifted its
price target to 500 pence from 430 and reiterated its 'outperform' stance on the
stock.
CSFB has also upgraded its current year pretax profit estimate by 3 pct on
the basis of increased sales growth estimates for the second half.
Rival Next was up 18 at 1,523.
Elsewhere, Smiths Group was 23 higher at 995-1/2 after saying it remains on
track to achieve another year of improved performance with three of its
divisions expected to show good growth in the first half of the year.
PartyGaming was also lifted by upbeat broker comment with HSBC raising
forecasts and lifting its target on the online poker giant to 134 pence. The
shares added 2-1/2 pence to 130-1/2, recovering some of yesterday's heavy losses
following a downgrade to 'underweight' by Lehman Brothers.
In a note published this morning, Numis Securities said it was upgrading its
2006 earnings forecast from 67.2 pence to 68 with 76 pence for 2007, producing
current year earnings growth of 23 pct followed by 12 pct in 2007.
Elsewhere, Hilton added another 4-3/4 pence to 351-1/2 amid talk that the
planned sale of its hotels unit is imminent.
On the downside, BG Group fell 4-1/2 pence to 555 after HSBC reiterated its
'underweight' recommendation, saying the shares appear to carry a 15 pct bid
premium, which it said could deter traditional majors.
Severn Trent led the blue chip fallers however, shedding 36 at 1,039, as the
negative effect of going ex-dividend today outweighed bullish comment from
Morgan Stanley.
In a report on the UK utilities sector, the US broker raised its target to
1070 pence from 970, although told clients that it thinks the sector as a whole
looks fairly valued.
Among the mid-caps, RHM added 11-1/4 pence to 269, as traders expressed
relief that the group's interims were in-line following the food group's profit
warning back in October.
RHM reported a 7.6 pct rise in first-half profit as job cuts and strong
sales of Hovis bread sheltered the British food producer from rising raw
material prices and a weak performance by its Mr Kipling cakes arm.
CSFB reiterated its 'neutral' stance.
Spirent gained 1-1/2 at 50 on reports linking US rival Agilent Technologies
with a possible bid.
Intertek was also in demand, up 31 pence at 711, after the company said
revenues and underlying operating profit for 2005 are expected to come close to
the top end of expectations.
Following the news, Bridgewell initiated coverage of the stock with a
'neutral' recommendation and fair value estimate of 725 pence.
Yule Catto led the fallers on the second line, down 14-3/4 at 279, after
Merrill Lynch downgraded to 'neutral' from 'buy' on valuation grounds.
John Laing dropped 10-3/4 pence to 308 after the company pulled out of
takeover talks with a mystery suitor after it could not agree on price.
The group, which last week sold off a chunk of its mature PFI/PPP portfolio,
said it did not feel that it was in shareholders' best interests to prolong
discussions any further.
Bridgewell Securities however, advised clients to take advantage of any
weakness in the shares.
Hays was also lower, down 4 pence at 124-1/2, after an uninspiring trading
update.
The company said it continued to generate good growth and predicted a
full-year performance in line with its expectations.
"The statement is very much as expected and we see no reason to change our
forecast of circa 19 pct earnings growth this year," Bridgewell said in a note
to clients.