| Competition Congratulations to Alan Carroll whose caption (below) has been voted the funniest and has won the UK-Analyst Friday Competition. Look out for another contest at the end of the week. 
"....and then we'll win on penalties!" The Markets European equity markets closed lower over concerns that the European Union summit later this week will achieve little in mitigating the region's debt crisis. Spanish shares were hit the hardest, with the IBEX closing almost 4% lower. Meanwhile an auditors' visit to debt-engulfed Greece has been put on hold following news that the Greek prime minister is in the processing of recovering from health problems. Following the market close there were further issues, as Greece's new finance minister, Vassilis Rapanos, quit his position less than a week after being appointed. Elsewhere, Cyprus - which has just had its credit rating cut to junk status by Fitch - has informed the EU that it intends to apply for financial assistance In India, the government unveiled plans to prop up the rupee, which has performed poorly against major currencies such as the dollar in recent months, thanks to a slowdown in economic growth. The Indian central bank plans to allow sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and foreign central banks to invest in Indian government bonds to boost the rupee, although critics believe this measure will have a limited impact on the currency in the short term. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 165.82 points at 12,474.96 and the Nasdaq was down by 60.73 points at 2,831.69.
In London the FTSE 100 fell by 63.04 points to 5,450.65; the FTSE 250 finished 152.44 points behind at 10,671.42; the FTSE All-Share lost 33.47 points to 2,828.05; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 12.01 points to 663.62.  Broker Notes Panmure Gordon maintained its "buy" stance on Betfair (BET) ahead of the betting exchange platform provider's full year results this Friday. Panmure has reason to believe that in addition to fourth quarter core revenue up 10% the first quarter of the current year should have started well, with Euro 2012 underway and the Olympics around the corner. The broker also believes that with the group awaiting the granting of exchange operating licences in Spain and Italy there exists a short-term catalyst for upward price movement. Not today however as Betfair shares fell by 18.5p to 732p. Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage of HSBC Holdings (HSBA) with a "buy" rating and 700p price target, commenting that new management will have a beneficial effect on the bank's underperforming balance sheet. The broker believes that capital will be aggressively moved from lower market markets such as the US to structurally higher return markets such as Asia. Looking to the bank's results for the six months to June, due on 1st August, Canaccord believes this will be a good opportunity for HSBC to demonstrate the progress it is making. HSBC shares slipped 4p to 558.3p. 
Shore Capital reiterated its "sell" recommendation for Wm. Morrisons (MRW) following the announcement that chief financial offer Richard Pennycooker will be resigning from his position. The broker commented that the unwelcome news comes at a time when the company is not trading particularly well in relative or absolute terms, with margin pressure continuing to dampen financial results."Morrisons will not sell any fewer baked beans because its finance director is going", commented Shore Capital, "however his departure is an unwelcome loss and distraction for the Board." Morrisons shares closed 3.6p lower at 264.8p. Singer Capital remains a "buyer" of Vectura Group (VEC) with a 120p target price as the European Medicine Agency adopted a 'positive opinion' for Vectura's new chronic obstructive pulmonary disease therapy, Seebri. First approval is expected within the next three months, which will trigger a milestone payment of 10 million dollars from partner Novartis. The broker believes the product could be strongly positioned versus key competitor Spiriva by virtue of a faster action and lower incidence of dry mouth. Vectura shares closed unchanged at 79.5p. Blue-Chips Shares in Vedanta Resources (VED) slipped by 26.5p to 877p despite the firm announcing that shareholders in Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries and Madras Aluminum have all approved the proposed scheme to merge the units, all part-owned by Vedanta, into a new company. The move will help Vedanta to reduce its debt burden followings its recent purchase of oil producer Cairn India for 8.67 billion dollars. International Power (IPR) has refinanced the debt facilities at its Hazelwood and Loy Yang B power plants in Australia, settling worries over continued regulatory uncertainty around energy and carbon policy. The 652 million Australian dollar debt will be repaid from the corporate resources of GDF SUEZ, a 70% shareholder in the firm, while the 1.06 billion Australian dollar Loy Yang B debt with be refinanced through a syndicate of banks. International Power shares inched 0.3p higher to 417.6p.  SSE (SSE) has finally completed the acquisition of Phoenix Supply, a regulated supplier of natural gas to 130,000 customers in Northern Ireland for 19.1 million pounds. Although the deal was approved in May, SSE had to wait for approval from the Irish Competition Authority for the acquisition to go ahead. Following the purchase SSE will provide energy related services to over 750,000 gas and electricity customers in the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland markets. SSE shares closed 7p lower at 1,369p. Mid-Caps Kier Group (KIE) updated the market on trading across its construction, services and property divisions, noting that performance since its interim management statement in May was in line with expectations. Construction has now built up a order book which represents 85% of its target revenue for 2013, while the services and property arms have secured a number of deals and been named preferred bidder for several additional contracts. With Kier's healthy cash position maintained, which stood at 161 million pounds on the turn of the year, the group commented it can continue with its aggressive dividend policy. Kier Group shares fell 26p to 1,225p.  International support services company Interserve (IRV) unveiled a 24 million pound contract with Northamptonshire County Council to build a new link road from Corby to the A14. The scheme will provide improved transports links to Corby, supporting the town growth while relieving the A43 at Geddington of through-traffic. Site preparation works are under way with the main contract due to start in July, and with approximately 6.5km of dual carriageway and three bridges to be built, with road is expected to open in early 2014. Interserve shares closed 4.3p behind at 299.5p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Shares in Lochard Energy (LHD) tumbled 1.25p to 8.125p and Ithaca Energy (IAE) shares dropped 14.5p to 95.5p as the oil and gas development firms conceded that one of the four production wells at the Athena project, in which the companies hold respective 10% and 22.5% stakes, is no longer fully flowing. The changeable flow rates seen by the well during testing indicate the restriction is likely attributable to a blockage and thus is it believed there are no issues with the integrity of the well. Intervention methods are currently being evaluated to restore the well to its full production potential, which includes use of the existing facilities to hydraulically remove the obstruction however if these methods are not successful a rig based workover may be required. Shares in UniVision Engineering (UVEL) rocketed 0.425p or 113% to 0.8p as the Hong Kong-based security surveillance systems firm announced the sale of its entitlement to a 51% interest in its Zhongshan shopping centre project in China for 11.1 million pounds. UniVision has been the main contractor responsible for the interior design and installation of CCTV systems for the project, the contractual duties of which it has now fulfilled. Due to a number of delays in the completion of the the project, following the developer's decision to add a further two storeys to the centre, UniVision has been exploring ways of generated value for the project, with the sale of a majority interest achieving this goal. 
News of a 6.5 million pound deal to install two flue gas desulfurisation systems for ShanXi XinFa Chemical Company sent shares in Tinci Holdings (TNCI) 1p higher to 6p. Management believe the contract, which will commence this July and last for twelve months, demonstrates the confidence of the industry in Tinci's technology. Meanwhile the firm added it has secured a 1 million pound agreement with Jingyan 2nd Electric Power Company for a retrofit nitrogen oxide removal project, which will be completed in October. Bank-note authentication technology group Spectra Systems (SPSY) shrugged off the recent fall in its shares by commenting it "is not aware of any factor relating to the company that would lead to such a movement in its price." Spectra shares slipped more than 75% last week, but with the market relieved that the board is not hiding any worrying developments, the shares have since rebounded by 5p to 19p. Seeing Machines (SEE), the facial recognition technology business confirmed its Driver Safety Solution (DSS) customer Cloud Peak Energy is progressing the roll-out of the DSS at its Cordero Rojo mine in Wyoming, US. Seeing Machines has just received the purchase order for the first element of the broader rollout which includes 31 new DSS units and an upgrade of the 9 trial units to DSS version 3, which will be worth 370,000 dollars over the next three months. Management commented that the take up and acceptance of the technology gives it much confidence about the growth trajectory for this key part of the business. Seeing Machines shares climbed 0.125p to 2.125p. | 
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