Arcontech Group Share News (ARC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have followed positive leads from Wall Street and Asia to open higher Wednesday, with market participants focused on the outcome of the US Federal Reserve meeting after the market close.

Fashion retailer Next leads FTSE 100 decliners, down 3.1%, after lowering its full-year earnings forecasts, blaming lower sales caused by the UK's unusually warm autumn weather.

Standard Life is 1.7% lower after Chief Executive David Nish warned growth in the near term may be hit by difficult investment conditions.

TUI Travel leads blue-chip gainers, up 3.0%, after a positive outlook from parent TUI AG on Tuesday.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,438.54
FTSE 250: up 0.4% at 15,183.53
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 714.08
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Hang Seng: closed up 1.3% at 23,819.87
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.5% at 15,553.91
DJIA: closed up 1.1% at 17,005.75
S&P 500: closed up 1.2% at 1,985.05
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GBP-USD: flat at USD1.6136
EUR-USD: flat at USD1.2734

GOLD: flat at USD1,228.92 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD86.38 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

09:30 UK M4 Money Supply, Consumer Credit and Net Lending to Individuals
11:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
12:30 Canada Raw Material and Industrial Product prices
14:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
18:00 US Fed Interest Rate Decision, Pace of Treasury and MBS purchase programs
18:00 US Fed Monetary Policy Statement
20:15 Canada BoC Governor Poloz Speech
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UK economic growth slowed in the three months to October, but remained relatively solid, the latest growth indicator from the Confederation of British Industry showed. The growth indicator balance fell to 19% from 23% seen in the prior month. Looking ahead to the next quarter, businesses are predicting slightly stronger growth of 25%, similar to the pace expected in September.
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FRANCE OCT CONSUMER CONFIDENCE STABLE AT 85, CONSENSUS 86
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None of the 2015 budgets drafted by eurozone countries are in blatant violation of EU rules, the bloc's executive said Tuesday, despite concerns surrounding France and Italy's spending plans.
Paris and Rome had on Monday moved to assuage EU concerns, offering further savings in their budgets. "I cannot immediately identify cases of 'particularly serious non-compliance' which would oblige us to consider a negative opinion at this stage in the process," EU Economy Commissioner Jyrki Katainen said in a statement. France and Italy, the currency bloc's second and third-largest economies, had faced mounting pressure over the last few weeks given that their budgets were widely expected to run afoul of EU rules.
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Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of whipping up tensions in the country's east by supporting "illegal" elections in separatist-held territories. "The holding of any vote on Ukrainian territory by the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people's Republics will hinder the peace process," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said in Kiev, according to local news agencies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Moscow will recognize the November 2 elections, saying that they are an important step to legitimizing the separatists.
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China's consumer sentiment decreased in October, results of a survey by MNI and Westpac showed. The Westpac-MNI consumer sentiment index fell to 110.9 in October from 113.2 in September. In August, the index was at 113.3.
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China should reserve its sizeable policy buffers to maintain macroeconomic stability in case of unexpected domestic or external economic shocks, the World Bank said in its China Economic Update. The bank said that a focus on meeting ambitious growth targets would require more expansionary macroeconomic policies.
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Industrial output in Japan added a seasonally adjusted 2.7% on month in September, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary reading. That beat forecasts for an increase of 2.2% following the 1.9% contraction in August. On a yearly basis, industrial production added 0.6% - again beating forecasts for a decline of 0.1% following the 3.3% drop in the previous month.
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The Ebola outbreak in West Africa requires at least 5,000 additional health workers, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said Tuesday. "Health workers are critical. We need 5,000 health workers who must rotate," Kim said in Addis Ababa at a press conference with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and African Union chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
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US President Barack Obama says the US should not institute quarantines or other policies that would discourage health care workers from traveling to West Africa to fight the Ebola outbreak. Doctors and nurses who volunteer to work in West Africa should be "applauded, thanked and supported," Obama says at the White House, after speaking with a US Agency on International Development team in West Africa, amid disagreement with local officials in the US over whether returning health care workers should be forced into quarantine.
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A detachment of Peshmerga artillery forces left the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil on Tuesday to help defend Kobane against the Islamic State, and a Peshmerga official said they would arrive "very soon."
The deployment represents an urgently needed boost for Kurdish forces straining to hold the town on the Syrian border, 60% of which has fallen to the Islamic State, according to the Syrian Observatory.
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A former top Chinese army general has confessed to accepting "extremely large" bribes and military prosecutors are preparing a criminal case against him, state media said on Wednesday, as the ruling Communist Party vowed to toughen anti-corruption systems. The procuratorate of the People's Liberation Army had started filing its case against Xu Caihou, a former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, following his expulsion from the party in June, the official Xinhua news agency and other media said.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: BERNSTEIN RAISES ROLLS-ROYCE TO 'MARKET-PERFORM' ('UNDERPERFORM')
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TRADERS: NOMURA CUTS STANDARD CHARTERED TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
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S&P CAPITAL IQ RAISES BG GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - PRICE TARGET 1050 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Antofagasta said it remains on track to hit its production targets for the full year, despite reporting reduced gold and copper production during the third quarter. During the third quarter ended September 30, copper production decreased by 5% to 169,200 tonnes compared with 178,800 tonnes in the second quarter. The decrease was caused by lower throughput of concentrates from Los Pelambres and Centinela in Chile. Gold production during the quarter fell by 3.4% to 64,700 ounces compared with 67,000 ounces of gold produced in the previous quarter, also caused by lower throughput of concentrates at Centinela due to planned maintenance work.
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The pace of Standard Life's growth in the near term may be hit by difficult investment conditions, Chief Executive David Nish warned, as the FTSE 100 long-term savings and investments company reported a rise in assets under administration in the first nine months of the year. In a statement, Standard Life said group assets under administration from continuing operations rose to GBP290.0 billion at the end of September, from GBP214.7 billion at the start of January, driven by GBP4.3 billion of net flows and the acquisition of Ignis Asset Management. The GBP290.0 billion figure includes GBP60.9 billion of assets managed by Ignis and excludes GBP30.8 billion of assets of its now discontinued Canadian operations.
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Next lowered its full-year earnings forecasts, blaming lower sales as warm autumn weather meant consumers delayed purchases of winter clothes. The UK fashion retailer said it expects sales growth of 6% to 8% for 2014, down from its previous forecast of growth of between 7% and 10%, and cut its full-year pretax profit forecast to between GBP750 million and GBP790 million. Next reported third-quarter sales growth of 5.4%, with retail sales contributing 2.4% and directory sales contributing 9.7%.
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British Sky Broadcasting said it has invested USD7 million in Whistle Sports and the companies will work together to create new content for younger sports fans, particularly those born after the millennium. The investment is the latest in a string of investments that BSkyB has made in start-up companies in recent months, as it looks to try and identify growing trends in online and new media content and be at the forefront of that coverage.
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Specialty chemicals group Johnson Matthey agreed a deal to buy the Energy Storage arm of Swiss chemicals company Clariant AG for USD75 million, with expectations the deal will close in early 2015. The Energy Storage business is the largest hydrothermal lithium iron phosphate producer in the world. The lithium ion cathode material is used in electric vehicles and stationary battery applications.
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BAE Systems has said the US Air Force has halted some initial work being undertaken by the company on a project to upgrade South Korea's F-16 fighter jets amid ongoing talks regarding the second phase of the project, Reuters reported. Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the FTSE 100 defence and aerospace company, said it remains "concerned about the lack of progress in the negotiations between the Republic of Korea and the US Air Force on the KF-16 upgrade programme that has now resulted in a partial stop work order".
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Riverstone Energy said its net asset value increased over the third quarter, buoyed by valuation changes for its investments in Fieldwood and Canadian International Oil Corp, and it has now committed over half the capital it raised in its recent initial public offering. Its net asset value stood at USD1.15 billion on Sepetmber 30, up from USD1.14 billion at the end of June, and its net asset value per share had increased to USD16.19, from USD16.00. It swung to a USD13.4 million profit in the third quarter, compared with the USD2.4 million loss it posted in the first half of the year.
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Tullett Prebon said it is continuing to cooperate with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and other regulators in the ongoing Libor probe as it noted the Serious Fraud Office charges against one of its former employees. The UK Serious Fraud Office on Tuesday said it has issued criminal proceedings against Noel Cryan, a former employee of Tullett, accusing him of conspiring to commit fraud between February 1, 2009 and December 3, 2009.
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Stagecoach Group kept its full-year guidance, and saying its overall profitability had remained "satisfactory". The bus and rail operator said like-for-like revenue growth for the 24 weeks ending October 12 rose 3.2% in its UK regional bus operations, 14.5% in its London bus operations, 7.4% in UK rail, 3.5% at its North American operations and 5.8% in its Virgin Rail joint venture.
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IP Group said its chairman is to step down, but will stay in the position until a successor is appointed. Bruce Smith joined the board of the FTSE 250 intellectual property company in September 2002 and has served as non-executive chairman since it floated on the stock market in 2003.
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Real estate investment trust Redefine International raised its dividend for its last financial year as earnings available for distribution rose by nearly 30%, helped by increased occupancy in its portfolio and higher portfolio values. The trust, which is converting to become a UK-focused REIT, said it will pay a second interim dividend of 1.70 pence for the year to August 31, bringing the total dividend for the year to 3.20 pence, up from 3.11 pence a year earlier. Its earnings available for distribution rose to GBP39.1 million, from GBP30.1 million.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Ryanair Holdings has been ordered to pay EUR8.1 million in damages and EUR200,000 in fines for breaching French labour laws, the BBC reported on Tuesday. The low-cost carrier was found guilty by a court in Aix-en-Provence of paying workers under Irish contracts in order to avoid making French social security payments, the BBC said. The case involves staff employed by Ryanair at Marseille airport between 2007 and 2010. The airline contested the original ruling, but lost its appeal.
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Ricardo said it has seen a positive start to its new financial year, with first quarter order intake rising and its order book at the end of the quarter ahead of the same period a year earlier, giving it confidence on its outlook for the year. The environmental and engineering consultancy said order intake in the first quarter to the end of September was GBP8.5 million, with a particularly strong start to the new financial year in Asia.
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PhotonStar LED Group issued a warning on its full-year outlook, saying it expects revenue to be below market expectations, resulting in a loss for the year, on the back of weak sales of its fixed white lighting products and its light engines. The company also said it has appointed David McTurk as its interim chief operating officer. He most recently worked as the chief executive officer of wireless and cloud-based energy monitoring company OWL Intuition Ltd.
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Johnston Press said it expects to meet market expectations for the year as the decline in revenue seen in the first half slowed in the third quarter, though it said further restructuring will take place in the final quarter of the year. The publishing group said its decline in revenue decelerated in the three months to the end of September, down 3.1% year-on-year compared to a 4.3% drop in the first half of the year.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Facebook posted net income of USD806 million in the third quarter, up from USD425 million a year earlier, the social media company said Tuesday, citing increased advertising sales. Revenue rose 59% to 3.2 billion dollars in the quarter. Advertising sales alone was USD2.96 billion, a 64% increase from the same quarter last year. Facebook's monthly active users increased from 1.32 billion to 1.35 billion from July to September. The number of mobile active users rose from 1.07 billion to 1.12 billion in the quarter. Facebook shares fell slightly in extended trading.
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Deutsche Bank reported a net loss for the third quarter, particularly hurt by litigation charges. Pre-tax profit increased from last year, helped by an increase in revenues and lower provision for credit losses, which fell 47%. During the quarter, the firm set aside EUR894 million in connection with resolution of litigation matters related to legacy issues. However, that was lower by EUR270 million than the year-ago quarter.
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Japanese electronics company Hitachi announced a surge in its second-quarter net income attributable to stockholders to JPY62.67 billion yen from last year's JPY21.97 billion, with quarterly net income climbing year-over-year to JPY92.75 billion from JPY46.73 billion. Consolidated revenue for the period totalled JPY2.36 trillion, compared with JPY2.39 trillion last year.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Arcontech Group
Murray Income Trust
Ricardo
Sacoven
Progility
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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