Astrazeneca Share News (AZN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - A rebound in Shanghai and Hong Kong stock prices following further market-boosting measures by Chinese authorities has led into a firm open in London Thursday.

The Shanghai Composite index is up 5.8%, while in Hong Kong the Heng Seng is up 4.1%. Fidelity China Special Situations leads the FTSE 250, up 6.1%, after the investment trust suffered in recent sessions.

Following dovish minutes from the most recent US Fed policy-setting meeting, investors are looking ahead to the Bank of England's decision at 1200 BST, though no change to interest rates or asset purchases is expected.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.7% at 6,536.78
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 17,194.64
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 744.94
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Hang Seng: up 4.1% at 24,484.81
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.6% at 19,855.50
DJIA: closed down 1.5% at 17,515.42
S&P 500: closed down 1.7% at 2,046.68
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The New York Stock Exchange halted trading Wednesday for more than three and a half hours due to what the company called an "internal technical issue." The disruption to the world's largest stock market was "not the result of a cyber breach," the NYSE said on its Twitter feed. The glitch affected all listed stocks, though trading on US equities continued through other platforms. Earlier Wednesday, United Airlines flights within the US were disrupted, halting takeoffs for more than an hour, due to computer problems that the company attributed to a "network connectivity issue." United suffered a similar glitch in June. There was no apparent link between the computer problems at NYSE and United Airlines.
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GBP: up at USD1.5381
EUR: flat at USD1.1071

GOLD: up at USD1,162.21 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD57.62 a barrel

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

10:45 US Fed's Narayana Kocherlakota speech
11:00 Ireland Consumer Price Index
12:00 UK BoE Interest Rate Decision and Asset Purchase Facility
13:30 US Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims
13:30 Canada New Housing Price Index
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
18:00 US Fed's George Speech
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British house prices increased at the fastest pace in eleven months in June, the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed. The survey showed that monthly house price balance climbed to +40 in June from +34 in May, while it was expected to increase slightly to +36. It was the biggest rate of growth since July 2014. The average stock of homes per surveyor fell to a historical low, demand edged upwards for the second successive month, despite the more cautious attitude of lenders. "There had been some hope that the removal of political uncertainty following the general election would encourage more properties onto the market but the initial indications are that this is not happening," said RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn.
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Greece requested a new bailout package from the eurozone, as the clock ticked down on the heavily indebted country's last chance to prevent a bankruptcy. "We demand an agreement with our neighbours, but one which...will demonstrate to us that there is light at the end of the tunnel," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg. Athens is now seeking a bailout loan "with an availability period for three years," according to a copy of the Greek request seen by dpa. "The loan will be used to meet Greece's debt obligations and to ensure stability of the financial system," the letter said. It does not mention how much money is being sought.
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Most US Federal Reserve members are not ready to raise interest rates, according to the minutes of the June Federal Reserve meeting. They are waiting for more data to confirm "economic growth was sufficiently strong and labor market conditions had firmed enough to return inflation to the Committee's longer-run objective over the medium term" according to the minutes. There was only one member of the Federal Open Market Committee wanting to hike rates in June, but even that policy maker was willing to remain patient for another meeting or two.
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China has implemented a raft of measures in the past month to try to stop a fall in the value of shares on its main stock exchange in Shanghai. In the latest move, the securities regulator said that shareholders who hold more than 5% of a company's shares must not reduce their holdings in the coming six months. Meanwhile, the state asset regulator ordered the country's centrally administered state-owned enterprises not to sell shares of their listed companies amid "abnormal market volatility."
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Consumer prices in China were up 1.4% on year in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That exceeded forecasts for 1.3% and was up from 1.2% in May. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were flat. Producer prices contracted 4.8% on year in June versus forecasts for a fall of 4.6%, which would have been unchanged.
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Germany's exports logged unexpected growth in May, data from Destatis revealed. Exports rose 1.7% in May from prior month, confounding expectations for a 0.8% fall. It was the fastest growth rate seen so far this year. In April, exports had climbed 1.6%. At the same time, imports rebounded in May after declining a month ago. Imports were up 0.4% versus a 0.8% drop in April. Economists had expected a 0.1% gain. As a result, the trade surplus increased to a seasonally adjusted EUR22.8 billion from EUR21.5 billion in April.
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Afghan officials and Taliban representatives met overnight in Islamabad for the first official talks in more than two years, and agreed to meet again after Ramadan, Pakistani officials said Wednesday. "It is ice-breaking," said a Pakistani security official involved in the process. "Acknowledging a problem is the first step to resolving it and that step has been taken." It was the first official meeting since a 2013 attempt to open a political office for the Taliban in the Gulf state of Qatar ended amid an uproar over the flag the militants wanted to display.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN RAISES PRUDENTIAL TO 'CONVICTION, BUY LIST' ('BUY') - PRICE TARGET 1845 (1950) PENCE
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BERENBERG RAISES SMITH & NEPHEW TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 1275 (1080) PENCE
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EXANE BNP RAISES HSBC TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERPERFORM') - PRICE TARGET 600 PENCE
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES STARTS NATIONAL GRID WITH 'BUY' - PRICE TARGET 900 PENCE
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Liberum Upgrades ASOS To Hold From Sell, Price Target At 3,300p
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Drugmaker AstraZeneca said it has entered an agreement with Tillotts Pharma, a unit of Japanese pharmaceutical company Zeria Group, to sell the non-US sales and development rights to its Entocort product. Entocort is a gastroenterology medicine for patients with mild to moderate Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis and generated sales of USD53 million outside of the US in 2014, Astra said. Tillott will pay Astra USD215 million upon completion of the deal.
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Housebuilder Barratt Developments said it expects to post a 45% rise in annual profit for the year to the end of June as it sold more houses at higher prices over the period. Barratt said it expects total completions for the year to the end of June to be up by 11% to 16,447 units from 14,838 a year earlier, on the back of strong consumer demand and increased site numbers. It added its private average selling price in the year increased by 8% to GBP262,000 from GBP241,600 a year earlier, helped by changes in its sales mix and underlying house price inflation.
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Associated British Foods said its results for the full year will be harder hit than expected by the weak euro, as revenue in the first 40 weeks was flat at actual rates amid continued tough trading in its sugar business, offset a still-buoyant performance by discount fashion retailer Primark. AB Foods said group revenue for the 40 weeks to June 20 was up by 2% in constant currencies. AB Foods said it expects the weakness of the euro to impact on its full-year results for 2015 more than previously anticipated, with currency translation set to hit its profit by around GBP25 million. Primark sales rose by 9% in the period, and by 13% in constant currencies.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Clothing retailer SuperGroup said its pretax profit rose in its 2015 financial year on the back of robust retail sales over the course of the year and said it has signed a joint venture deal to enter the Chinese market as sales in the first quarter rose sharply against weak comparables. The Superdry brand owner said its pretax profit for the year to April 25 was GBP59.5 million, up from GBP45.2 million last year when the group was hit by GBP16.8 million in exceptional charges. Revenue increased to GBP486.6 million from GBP430.9 million, and the group's gross margin improved to 60.9% from 59.7%.
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Homewares retailer Dunelm Group said its sales continued to grow in the fourth quarter of its financial year and said it has hired a new chief financial officer from fellow FTSE 250 constituent Go-Ahead Group. Dunelm said its total sales in the fourth quarter to June 27 were up by 12.1% to GBP200.1 million, helping to push its total sales for the full year up 12.7% to GBP822.7 million. Dunelm said it has appointed Keith Down as its new chief financial officer, with plans for him to take on the role in December when his predecessor, David Stead, retires from the board. Go-Ahead said it has started the process of finding Down's replacement as finance director.
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GVC Holdings has tabled a formal takeover offer for bwin.party digital entertainment that values its online gambling rival at 110 pence per share, equivalent to about GBP906.5 million, the companies said on Thursday. A takeover would be paid for in cash and new shares issued by GVC, the companies said. bwin.party said it "has determined to work with GVC so that they can finalise their offer over the coming days". Separately, bwin.party said it is confident in its outlook for its current financial year, with gaming revenue in the three months to the end of June in-line with the company's expectations.
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Engineering IT systems provider AVEVA Group said its first quarter revenue and profit have continued to suffer amid tough trading conditions and the strong pound. The company said it has seen no significant change in its end markets since it published its results for the year to the end of March back in May, but said that in spite of a challenging market, it remains a "resilient" business.
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Premier Oil said production and revenue fell in the first half of the year as expected due to a combination of the fall in oil prices and the sale of some of its assets. The oil and gas producer said production in the first half of 2015 was 60,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 64,900 barrels per day a year earlier after the company sold some of its assets in the UK during 2014. The company reiterated its full-year 2015 guidance of 55,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, but this excludes any new production from the Solan field in the UK North Sea, which will come online in the fourth quarter of 2015.
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Centamin said gold production in the three months to the end of June experienced a slight fall quarter-on-quarter but was significantly up year-on-year as the company reiterated its full year guidance. The miner reported a 33% year-on-year rise in gold production in the second quarter to 107,871 ounces from 81,281 ounces. However, this was down from the previous quarter when it produced 108,233 ounces of gold.
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Grafton Group said its revenue in the first half increased on the back of good performances in its UK merchanting and manufacturing businesses, even as its operations in Europe were dragged back by the weak euro. The builders merchant and DIY company said its group revenue in the six months to the end of June was up by 6.6% to GBP1.08 billion, though it increased by 9.5% in constant currencies.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Microsoft announced more fallout from its ill-fated acquisition of Nokia's mobile handset division, saying it would eliminate up to 7,800 jobs and write off USD7.6 billion in a "fundamental restructuring" of its phone business. Additionally, the company will pay restructuring costs of USD750 million to USD850 million, it said in a press release. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said the company would drop plans for an independent phone business. "We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem that includes our first-party device family," Nadella said in an email to employees.
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Japanese electronics giant Toshiba is considering selling part of its stake in US nuclear power unit Westinghouse Electric and other assets following an accounting scandal requiring a massive markdown of past profits, Nikkei reported. The report said that the plan is to generate about JPY200 billion through the sales. Toshiba currently owns an 87% interest in Westinghouse.
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Alcoa, the largest US aluminum producer, said its second quarter profit rose 1.4% from last year, as sales increased 1% due to organic growth in aerospace, automotive and alumina businesses. The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in below analysts' expectations, but its quarterly sales beat analysts' forecast. Alcoa also affirmed its 2015 global aluminum demand growth forecast of 6.5%.
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Food and beverage giant PepsiCo named executive vice president and chief financial officer Hugh Johnston to the additional role of vice chairman. Johnston will continue to serve as CFO, as well as oversee the Quaker Foods North America business and PepsiCo's global e-commerce organization. In addition, he will now have responsibility for the company's global business and information solutions function, which provides information technology systems and solutions across PepsiCo.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

AVEVA
Lombard Risk Management
Gulf Keystone
Zoltav Resources
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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