8th Jul 2016 07:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Share prices opened narrowly mixed on Friday, amid disturbing scenes in the US, where snipers opened fire on police officers in Dallas, killing four and injuring seven others.
Focus will remain on the US in the London afternoon, as the key nonfarm payroll report is scheduled for 1330 BST.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,544.91
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 15,882.16
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 699.96
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Hang Seng: down 1.1% at 20,480.62
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.1% at 15,106.98
DJIA: closed down 0.1% at 17,895.88
S&P 500: closed down 0.1% at 2,097.90
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GBP: flat at USD1.2930 (USD1.2933)
EUR: flat at USD1.1078 (USD1.1066)
GOLD: flat at USD1,356.26 per ounce (USD1,355.97)
OIL (Brent): down at USD46.75 a barrel (USD47.74)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)
0930 UK trade balance
1315 Canada housing starts
1330 US nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate, average hourly earnings
1430 Canada unemployment rate
1800 US Baker Hughes US oil rig count
2000 US consumer credit
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The UK is on course to have its second female prime minister as Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom begin the task of winning the votes of Tory members around the country. Around 150,000 Conservative members will decide the identity of the party's new leader - who will also take the keys to Number 10 - with the result to be announced on September 9. May claimed a decisive win in the ballot of Conservative MPs which saw Michael Gove eliminated from the contest after finishing in third place. The Home Secretary received 199 votes - well over half of the 330 Tory MPs - while Leadsom won the backing of 84 MPs and Gove just 46.
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Jeremy Corbyn has repeated his offer to take on his rebel MPs in a leadership ballot of Labour members as the number of people joining the party surges. The embattled leader said his detractors should respect the democratic process that saw him swept into position last year and called for unity in opposition to the Conservatives. Corbyn has refused to step down despite facing an overwhelming vote of no confidence by Labour MPs and mass resignations in his shadow cabinet, repeatedly citing his popular support at the party's grass roots.
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British consumer sentiment weakened notably in July, survey results from market research group GfK showed. The consumer confidence index fell to -9 in July from -1 in June. The survey was conducted between June 30 and July 5, after Britons voted to leave the EU. Nearly 60% of 2,002 respondents forecast the general economic situation to worsen over the coming year, versus 46% in June.
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Germany's exports declined unexpectedly in May and imports logged a weak growth, data published by Destatis revealed. Exports fell by seasonally adjusted 1.8% month-on-month in May, confounding expectations for a 0.4% rise. In April, shipments gained 0.1%. Imports logged a 0.1% rise in May, reversing a 0.3% fall in April. Imports were expected to grow 0.7%. The trade surplus decreased to around EUR22.1 billion from EUR24.1 billion in April.
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Japan posted a current account surplus of JPY1.809 trillion in May, the Ministry of Finance said - down 2.4% on year. The headline figure exceeded expectations for a surplus of JPY1.751 trillion, although it was down from JPY1.878 trillion in April. The trade balance reflected a surplus of JPY39.9 billion - missing forecasts for JPY56.0 billion and down from JPY697.1 billion in the previous month. Exports slipped 11.9% on year, while imports dropped 13.4%.
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A measure of peoples' assessment of the Japanese economy dropped unexpectedly in June to the lowest level in more than three-and-a-half years, survey figures from the Cabinet Office showed. The current index of Economy Watchers' survey dropped to 41.2 in June from 43.0 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to rise slightly to 43.1.
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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is projected to be the likely winner of the election by a handful of votes, a polling analyst and the opposition leader said. Tabulation of absentee and postal votes will continue through the weekend, but analyst Anthony Green said Turnbull's conservative coalition government was heading towards the narrowest of victories, national broadcaster ABC reported. Three independents had pledged to support the coalition to form a government by a two-seat majority in 150-member parliament, it said.
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NATO leaders were set to kick off Friday a summit that the Western military alliance is heralding as a landmark, but that Russia has warned will worsen tensions in Eastern Europe. "This is a defining moment for our security," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the eve of the summit in the Polish capital Warsaw. Relations between NATO and Moscow have reached their worst point since the Cold War due to Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
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US President Barack Obama is set Friday to meet top EU officials, amid concerns over Britain's decision to leave the bloc and growing pessimism over a free trade deal being negotiated between Brussels and Washington. Obama will hold talks with EU President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in the Polish capital Warsaw, before attending a NATO summit. Obama will likely meet with UK Prime Minister David Cameron there. The trip is Obama's last planned visit to Europe before he leaves office in January.
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Snipers opened fire on police officers in Dallas, killing four and injuring seven others during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men, police said. Three people are in custody and police were negotiating with a suspect in a parking garage who was exchanging gunfire with officials, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said early on Friday morning. The suspect is not co-operating and has told negotiators he intends to hurt more law enforcement officials, Brown said. The gunfire started at around 8.45pm local time on Thursday while hundreds of people were gathered to protest over fatal police shootings this week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St Paul, Minnesota.
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Republicans in Congress grilled FBI Director James Comey for more than four and a half hours Thursday over his decision not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server while secretary of state. Comey this week said an FBI investigation about Clinton's email and the handling of classified information had shown she and her staff were careless but had not intended to commit a crime. The issue has dogged Clinton's presidential campaign, and Republicans were outraged that Clinton was cleared despite apparently mishandling classified material.
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The architect of impeachment proceedings against suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff resigned as president of Brazil's lower house of parliament amid investigations into his ties to a massive corruption scandal at state-owned oil giant Petrobras. Announcing his resignation, Eduardo Cunha accused the Justice Ministry and Rousseff allies of "persecution and vengeance" against him, saying he was "paying a high price for the impeachment".
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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UBS RAISES FIDESSA GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('SELL') - TARGET 2080 (2140) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS RBS TO 'BUY' (CONVICTION BUY LIST)
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP ADDS SHIRE TO 'FOCUS LIST EUROPE'
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BERENBERG RAISES INCHCAPE TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 760 (735) PENCE
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS CUTS AVIVA TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT')
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS RAISES AG BARR TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL WEIGHT')
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS CUTS BAT TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' (OVERWEIGHT)
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS CUTS DIAGEO TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' (OVERWEIGHT)
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS RAISES RECKITT BENCKISER TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' (UNDERWEIGHT)
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SOCGEN CUTS PEARSON TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 1030 (965) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Retail portfolio owner Hammerson said it has secured ownership of Dundrum Town Centre with its joint venture partner Allianz Real Estate. Dundrum is a shopping and leisure destination in Dublin, comprising 120 shops, 38 restaurants, a 12-screen cinema and 3,400 car park spaces. It will be Hammerson's largest asset by lettable area. In addition, Hammerson has acquired "significant development land" located adjacent to the Dublin Central development site and the Pavilions shopping centre in the Swords area of Dublin.
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Deutsche Boerse late Thursday said all US and Russian merger control conditions had been satisfied regarding its planned GBP20.00 billion merger with London Stock Exchange Group. The merger between LSE and Deutsche Boerse was agreed in mid-March. Deutsche Borse said the holding company which is implementing the all-share merger announced that the Russian Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation has issued a clearance decision in respect of the merger, and that all required notifications have been made to the US merger control authorities and all applicable waiting periods have expired.
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Life insurer and investment manager Legal & General Group said Philip Broadley has been appointed to its board as independent non-executive director with immediate effect. Broadley is the former group finance director at Old Mutual, the Anglo-South African financial services company, and held the same role in the past at Prudential, the life insurer.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Engineering software company AVEVA Group said its long-serving chief executive, Richard Longdon, will step down at the end of 2016, as it said trading had been in line with its expectations. Longdon will leave at the end of 2016 after 17 years at CEO and 33 years with the company. James Kidd, AVEVA's chief financial officer, will become deputy CEO with immediate effect and will replace Longdon at the helm on January 1, 2017. He has been AVEVA's CFO since 2011. Kidd will be replaced by David Ward, currently AVEVA's head of finance.
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Online trading firm IG Group Holdings said Paul Mainwaring has been appointed as its new chief financial officer and will start on July 11. Mainwaring is the former CFO at Tullett Prebon, the FTSE 250 interdealer broker. He stepped down from that role in May. At IG, he replaces interim CFO Mark Ward, who had taken up the role following the departure of Chris Hill to fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown.
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The Unite Group said the value of its UK student accommodation fund and the London student accommodation joint venture portfolio have both risen during the last quarter. Unite's UK student accommodation fund was valued at GBP2.14 billion at the end of June, a 1.0% like-for-like increase from the end of March. The London student accommodation portfolio was valued at GBP758.0 million at the end of June, also a 1.0% increase during the quarter.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Johnston Press said the 'i' newspaper has grown its readership ahead of management expectations since the company acquired the publication back in April, delivering strong increases to advertising revenue and online traffic. Johnston acquired the newspaper from the publisher of The Independent for a total of GBP24.0 million. Johnston Press said the publication has performed well since then, boosted by interest in the EU referendum. The continued growth in readers of the 'i' newspaper has beaten management expectations since April. Last week's sales show daily circulation was "consistently" over 300,000 copies, peaking at 319,000 on June 29.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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The US Internal Revenue Service sued Facebook to force the company to hand over documents related a transfer of assets to Ireland in 2010, part of a year-long investigation into whether some of those assets were undervalued "by billions of dollars", according to reports.
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French business services firm Sodexo reported an 3.7% increase in revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2016. It confirmed its fiscal 2016 objectives. Revenues for the first nine months of fiscal 2016 amounted to EUR15.7 billion representing an increase of 3.7% compared to the year-earlier period. Organic growth was 3.3%, including the contribution from the Rugby World Cup contract in the first quarter, or up 2.5% excluding this impact.
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Franco-Dutch airline Air France - KLM reported a 2.1% decrease in passenger traffic, with a 0.5% decline in capacity for the month of June 2016. Monthly load factor slid by 1.4 points to 85.5%, from 86.9% a year before.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Value & Income Trust
AVEVA Group
daVictus
Hornby (re Placing and open offer)
Paternoster Resources
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]; @thomaslwaite
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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