18th Jan 2016 08:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices barely moved at the open Monday, with weakness in oil prices the main story of a day lacking in significant economic data. Additionally, US markets are closed for the Martin Luther King's Birthday holiday.
Oil companies topped the FTSE 100 loser list, as the official resumption of Iran as an oil exporter on Saturday pushed oil prices into USD28 a barrel territory.
In the FTSE 250, Home Retail Group was up 2.2% after confirming the sale of DIY chain Homebase to Australia's Wesfarmers and planning a GBP200 million cash return.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 5,812.45
FTSE 250: flat at 16,164.34
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 697.90
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Hang Seng: closed down 1.5% at 19,237.45
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.1% at 16,955.57
DJIA: closed down 2.4% at 15,988.08
S&P 500: closed down 2.2% at 1,880.33
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GBP: down at USD1.4265 (USD1.4292)
EUR: down at USD1.0891 (USD1.0946)
GOLD: up at USD1,089.50 per ounce (USD1,088.24)
OIL (Brent): down at USD28.09 a barrel (USD29.39)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)
US Martin Luther King's Birthday holiday
09:00 Italy Trade Balance
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The EU and the US lifted sanctions targeting Iran on Saturday, settling the dispute over the regional power's nuclear programme and ending Tehran's international isolation. EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini and US Secretary of State John Kerry made the announcements in Vienna after the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran had kept its side of last year's agreement with six major powers by significantly scaling down its nuclear programme. The IAEA confirmed that Iran had dismantled thousands of uranium enrichment centrifuges, shipped most of its enriched uranium to Russia and poured concrete into its plutonium-producing Arak reactor, Kerry said.
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British house prices climbed at the start of the year, after declining in the previous two months, the latest house price balance from property tracking website Rightmove showed. The house price index rose slightly by 0.5% month-over-month in January, in contrast to a 1.1% decrease in December. On an annual basis, house prices house prices grew at a slower pace of 6.5% in January, following a 7.4% surge in the prior month.
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China's central bank added one more step to contain the downward pressure on yuan and manage cross-border fund flows. The People's Bank of China is set to raise the reserve requirement ratio on yuan deposits of offshore banks, effective January 25. The ratio will be lifted from its current zero to "normal levels", the bank said.
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Home prices in majority of the Chinese cities grew in December, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Month-on-month, house prices rose 39 cities out of 70 surveyed by the government. It dropped in 27 cities and remained flat in four cities.
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Japan's industrial production dropped slightly less than estimated in November, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. Industrial production slid 0.9% from October instead of 1% decrease estimated initially.
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The leader of Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai Ing-wen, promised to uphold her country's sovereignty after winning the island nation's presidential election on Saturday. Her election success was "a great achievement for Taiwan," Tsai told more than 30,000 cheering supporters in front of the DPP headquarters in Taipei City. Tsai, a law professor, is set to become the first female president of Taiwan when she replaces incumbent Ma Ying-jeou on May 20. Her pro-independence position is likely to cause tensions in relations with Beijing, as the Communist Party in China consider Taiwan as a separatist province and have threatened its recapture.
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Burkina Faso security forces have freed 126 people, who were held hostages, early Saturday from a hotel seized by al-Qaida-linked fighters in the West African state's capital, Ouagadougou. Security forces, assisted by around 30 French special forces and an American soldier, stormed the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou to rescue the hostages trapped inside the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou. The attack was opened by the gunmen late Friday, firing the Splendid Hotel, as well as the Cappuccino café and another hotel nearby. At least 23 people, belonging to 18 nationalities, were dead in the attacks. Around four attackers were also killed, which includes two women. It is not sure as to whether their deaths were included in the 23.
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EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in an interview with dpa that she believes a controversial trade deal with the US could be finalized before a change in leadership in Washington. She said the EU was aiming to reach an agreement on the transatlantic free-trade agreement before the US elections in November. "It is still too early to say if we will do it, but it is possible," she said.
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The Obama administration, citing the need to review fossil fuel resource management as the US moves to a "clean energy economy," on Friday announced a pause on new coal mining leases on federal lands. The review will consider the environmental and health impacts of coal mining as well as whether US taxpayers were being fairly compensated for the use of the land.
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One of the six men hospitalized after participating in a clinical drug trial in north-western France died Sunday, the university hospital where he was being treated said in a statement. The man was admitted to the University Hospital Center of Rennes on January 10, three days after the launch of a clinical drug trial to test an oral medication developed by Portuguese firm Bial. He was declared to be medically brain dead. The five other men hospitalized, aged 28 to 49 years old, remain in stable condition, the hospital said.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN RAISES BHP BILLITON TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERWEIGHT')
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN CUTS RIO TINTO TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT')
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN RAISES ANTOFAGASTA TO 'OVERWEIGHT'
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES INITIATES DRAX GROUP WITH 'HOLD'
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TRADERS: CREDIT SUISSE RAISES PREMIER OIL TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERPERFORM')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Building materials company Wolseley said its chief executive will step down in August and will be replaced by its chief financial officer. Ian Meakins will retire on August 31, having been at the helm since July 2009. He will be replaced by John Martin, the current chief financial officer who has been in that role since 2010. Wolseley said Simon Nicholls will replace Martin as chief financial officer. He joins from the same role at Cobham, the FTSE 250-listed defence and aerospace group. Cobham said the search to replace Nicholls is underway and an announcement will made in due course.
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ITV Chairman Archie Norman is set to step down in the first shake-up of the management team at the broadcaster in six years, the Financial Times reported. The ITV board will start a search to replace Norman in coming weeks as it prepares for the future departure of Adam Crozier, the current chief executive who is expected to remain in place for another two years, the FT said, citing people familiar with the situation.
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Two large Canadian pension fund investors are considering plans to partner on the bid for the gas distribution assets National Grid, the UK's power grid operator, is set to sell, The Sunday Telegraph reported. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Borealis, the infrastructure investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, are understood to have held early talks to team up to bid for the assets, which have been valued at around GBP11 billion. National Grid announced plans to sell the assets in November and the two Canadian bidders are considered natural suitors, having bought other distribution assets from National Grid back in 2004.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Home Retail Group confirmed it has struck a deal to sell its Homebase DIY and garden centre chain to Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers for GBP340.0 million and said it will return a chunk of the cash to shareholders. Home Retail will sell the business to Wesfarmers for GBP340.0 million, having disclosed it was holding advanced talks with the buyer last week. Wesfarmers owns Australian DIY chain Bunnings and intends to rebrand Homebase stores under that name, with an investment of GBP500.0 million to be made in the business over the next three to five years. Home Retail said it will return about GBP200.0 million of the proceeds to shareholders, after deducting GBP50 million in pension contributions and GBP75 million in deal and restructuring costs.
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Engineering services group Amec Foster Wheeler said Chief Executive Samir Brikho has stepped down and been replaced by its finance chief. Ian McHoul will become interim chief executive with immediate effect and hold the position until a permanent replacement for Brikho is appointed. Amec said it will consider internal and external candidates for the role, but said McHoul has decided not to apply. Amec briefly added that its trading results for 2015 were in line with its expectations.
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Clay bricks and concrete products manufacturer Ibstock said trading was in line with its expectations in 2015, with good revenue growth continuing through the year, leaving it on target to hit market forecasts. Ibstock, which listed in London in October, said it expects its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for the year to the end of December will be in line with market expectations. That will strip out the cost of the company acquiring its operating businesses in February ahead of its stock-market listing, plus the costs of the float. Group revenue for the year rose 9.0% year-on-year, though this slowed to 7.0% in the second half.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Gift packaging and greetings cards retailer International Greetings said it put in a strong performance over the Christmas period, with results in line with its expectations. The group said it is remains confident it will deliver the earnings per share growth that it had expected for the year to the end of March, as the robust performance it saw in the first half of its financial year to September 30 continued over the key festive period.
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Daniel Stewart Securities late Friday said it has failed to find a new nominated adviser so far since the resignation of Beaumont Cornish. Under AIM rules, Daniel Stewart has 30 days from December 21, 2015, to appoint a new nomad otherwise its shares will be delisted. The company said that it has been unable to secure an appointment so far, and that if its shares are delisted it will examine alternative mechanism's to facilitate trading in the company's shares, including a potential future relisting.
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
Aquarius Platinum
eServ Global (re loan facility)
Punch Taverns
Polo Resources
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]; @thomaslwaite
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