5th Oct 2015 07:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares opened higher in London, following gains by NY on Friday and by Asian markets Monday.
Miners Glencore and Anglo American were leading blue-chip risers. Glencore, up 8.3% in London, issued a pre-market statement saying it knows of no reason for a 31% rise in its Hong Kong-listed shares.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: up 1.6% at 6,224.74
FTSE 250: up 1.2% at 16,992.92
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.4% at 731.61
----------
Hang Seng: up 1.4% at 21,802.07
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.6% at 18,005.49
DJIA: closed up 1.2% at 16,472.37
S&P 500: closed up 1.4% at 1,951.36
----------
GBP: up at USD1.5220
EUR: up at USD1.1246
GOLD: down at USD1,135.96 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD48.47 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)
China National Day holiday
EU Eurogroup meeting
08:45 Italy Markit Services PMI
08:50 France Markit Services and Composite PMI
08:55 Germany Markit Services and Composite PMI
09:00 EU Markit Services and Composite PMI
09:30 UK Markit Services PMI
09:30 EU Sentix Investor Confidence
10:00 EU Retail Sales (YoY)
14:45 US Markit Services and Composite PMI
15:00 US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI
15:00 US Labor Market Conditions Index
----------
Former Labour transport secretary Lord Adonis is to chair a new body which will plan infrastructure projects in the UK, Chancellor George Osborne is set to announce, the BBC reported. The commission is set to be unveiled at the Conservative Party conference on Monday, the BBC said, and Osborne is due to pledge a further GBP5 billion in this parliament to back major schemes.
----------
The British government is confident of securing a deal to reform the EU and persuade voters to say yes to Britain remaining a member, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said. Negotiating a deal that will satisfy the Conservative government and win a majority in a planned referendum on Britain's EU membership will "require some hard graft [work]" and negotiations "will be tough," Hammond said. "But we will secure a deal," he said. "Because our European neighbours understand the value Britain adds to the EU, and that keeping us there requires real change."
----------
Ireland's service sector growth quickened in September on the back of a strong rise in new orders, survey figures from Markit Economics showed. The Investec services purchasing managers' index rose to 62.4 in September from 62.1 in the previous month. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
----------
UK Prime Minister David Cameron plans to bolster Britain's special forces and buy 20 of the latest US Protector drones to use against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Cameron told the Sunday Telegraph that Britain "will be more than doubling...our [drone] fleet to keep us safe and to give us the intelligence and information and potentially give us the capacity to hit people who are potentially planning to hit us."
----------
Islamic State militants destroyed a famous arch in the ancient city of Palmyra, the Syrian authorities in charge of antiquities said. The Arch of Triumph, built in the 2nd century AD, was destroyed on Sunday, the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums said, quoting local witnesses. Palmyra, registered as a UN World Heritage site since 1980, fell to the fundamentalist militant group in May.
----------
The World Bank downgraded its growth outlook for developing East Asia, citing China's economic rebalancing and the expected pace of normalization of the US interest rates. Developing east Asia will grow 6.5% this year, instead of 6.7% estimated in April, the bank said in its East Asia Pacific Economic Update released. The report assumed a gradual slowdown of the Chinese economy. The second largest economy is forecast to grow about 7% in 2015. China is expected to grow 6.7% in 2016 and by 6.5% in 2017. In April, the lender had estimated 7.1% growth for 2015 and 7% for 2016.
----------
Talks aimed at finalizing a trade deal between the US and 11 other Pacific Rim countries were extended into the weekend, reports said. US Trade Representative Michael Froman and his counterparts working on the Trans-Pacific Partnership have been meeting since Wednesday last week in the US city of Atlanta. Neither Froman nor his office has yet issued an update on the progress of the talks, which are being held behind closed doors.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
---------
CREDIT SUISSE RAISES UNITED UTILITIES TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
----------
TRADERS: MORGAN STANLEY CUTS SCHRODERS TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT')
----------
SOCGEN CUTS BHP BILLITON TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - PRICE TARGET 1050 (1600) PENCE
----------
SOCGEN RAISES RIO TINTO TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - PRICE TARGET 2450 (3100) PENCE
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
The UK government said it will launch a retail sale of shares in Lloyds Banking Group in the spring of next year, continuing its push to return the bank to public ownership. HM Treasury said it is the intention of the government to fully exit its shareholding in Lloyds in the coming months, including a GBP2 billion sale of shares to retail investors. Members of the public will get a 5% discount on the market price of the shares and will get one bonus share for every 10 they hold for more than a year.
----------
Aerospace and engineering group Rolls-Royce Holdings confirmed a press report that it will cut a further 400 jobs in its Marine business by the end of 2016. Rolls-Royce said the job cuts, which are being made in addition to the 600 already announced in the Marine business, were the result of the continued reduced demand for its services and products due to the downturn in the oil and gas market.
----------
Insurer Prudential is considering quitting the UK in order to escape more onerous regulation on the sector from the European Union, The Sunday Times reported. The radical plan may result in Prudential selling its British operations or spinning them off into a separate company, the newspaper said, citing City sources.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Ryanair Holdings, Wizz Air Holdings and Fastjet all posted improved passenger traffic for September, while Fastjet also said its chief financial officer will be stepping down next year. Ryanair said its customer traffic in September rose 12% year-on-year to 9.6 million from 8.5 million a year earlier, while its load factor improved to 94.0% from 90.0%. Central and Eastern Europe-focused carrier Wizz Air said its passenger traffic rose to 1.8 million in September, up 22% from the 1.5 million passengers it carried a year earlier, while its load factor improved to 90.9%, up from 87.5%. Africa-focused budget carrier Fastjet said its passenger numbers rose 33% in September, up to 76,595 from 57,709, though its load factor declined to 64.0% from 74.0% due to an increase in its capacity year-on-year. Fastjet also said Chief Financial Officer Nick Caine will leave in mid-2016. Caine has decided to return to Australia. It has started the search for his replacement.
----------
Playtech said it has received a letter from the Central Bank of Ireland opposing its proposed USD105 million deal to acquire contracts-for-difference broker Ava Trade. The company said it will be seeking clarification from the Irish central bank and will engage with it to discuss some issues raised in the letter which it believes can be addressed to the central bank's satisfaction. Elsewhere, Playtech is continuing to work towards securing the one remaining regulatory approval it requires for its GBP459 million deal to acquire contracts-for-difference trader Plus500.
----------
Allied Minds said its subsidiary Precision Biopsy has raised USD33.6 million to accelerate the commercial expansion of its ClariCore Biopsy product for prostate biopsy procedures. Allied Minds contributed around GBP16.6 million to Precision Biopsy in the funding. As a result the value of Allied Minds' 68.3% holding in Precision Biopsy has increased to USD61.8 million from USD45.6 million, it said.
----------
COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
----------
Business processing outsourcing company Xchanging confirmed it has received takeover offers from much larger rival Capita and US buyout house Apollo Global Management. Xchanging said it received a non-binding takeover offer valuing the company at 140 pence per share from Capita back in August, but it rejected this bid. Capita then raised that offer to 160 pence per share, and Xchanging said it has now granted Capita due diligence access. Capita's bid values the company at GBP396.6 million. Separately, Apollo has made a bid for Xchanging valuing the company at 170 pence per share and has also been granted due diligence access. Apollo's bid values the company at GBP421.3 million. Capita said it likely would fund the deal, if it progresses, with a share placing.
----------
Iron ore pellets producer Ferrexpo said its total pellet production in the first nine months was up 5.1% and said its premium pellet production has increased. Ferrexpo said its total pellet production in the nine months to the end of September was 8.7 million tonnes, up 5.1% from the 8.3 million tonnes it produced a year earlier.
----------
Trinity Mirror reiterated its full-year expectations, as it reported improving revenue trends in its third quarter compared to its second quarter. The company did not provide any further update on its potential acquisition of the remaining stake in regional newspaper group Local World it does not already own, after confirming it was in talks to buy the stake last month. Trinity Mirror reported a 9% fall in revenue for the thirteen weeks to September 27, compared to a 13% decline in the thirteen weeks to June 28. On an underlying basis, stripping out title closures, revenue fell 7% in the third quarter, compared to a 10% decline in the second.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
European car giant Volkswagen, which is going through a tough period due to the emission scandal, is closing in on its Wednesday deadline to present a plan to fix about 2.8 million vehicles in the German market. Volkswagen's designated Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch has already warned managers that the scandal could pose an existence-threatening crisis for the company.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hasn't been very vocal about the issue, on Sunday called the company's disclosure "a dramatic event." She said Volkswagen needs to clarify the issue quickly.
----------
Canadian fertilizer giant Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc said that it has withdrawn its USD8.6 billion offer to acquire German potash maker K+S Aktiengesellschaft, citing challenging macroeconomic conditions and a lack of engagement by the target company's management.
----------
FIFA sponsor adidas called for "fundamental changes" to football's governing body but in contrast to other major sponsors is not urging its president Joseph Blatter to step down. Major sponsors Coca-Cola, Visa, Budweiser and McDonald's had called late Friday for Blatter to go immediately. The four companies each issued statements saying Blatter should resign after Swiss criminal proceedings were opened against him last week.
----------
Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
Petroceltic
----------
By Tom Waite; [email protected]; @thomaslwaite
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
SchrodersRio TintoBHP Billiton PLCUnited Utilities