Barclays Share News (BARC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - As the UK appeared headed toward an all-female run-off for prime minister, the pound was pushed down to new lows not seen since the time of Margaret Thatcher. The pound rebounded back above USD1.29 early Wednesday, after setting a new 31-year low of USD1.2798 overnight.

Dissuaded neither by the weakness of its shopping currency, nor by Brexit uncertainty, 'buy, improve, sell' specialist Melrose Industries struck a USD1.44 billion deal to acquire US manufacturing company Nortek. Melrose shares rose 25% on the news.

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 6,549.99
FTSE 250: down 0.5% at 15,652.31
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 704.99
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Hang Seng: down 1.6% at 20,411.48
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.9% at 15,378.99
DJIA: closed down 0.6% at 17,840.62
S&P 500: closed down 0.7% at 2,088.55
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GBP: down at USD1.2941 (USD1.3035)
EUR: down at USD1.1068 (USD1.1094)

GOLD: up at USD1,367.96 per ounce (USD1,349.32)
OIL (Brent): unchanged at USD47.89 a barrel (USD47.89)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

1200 US MBA mortgage applications
1330 US trade balance
1330 Canada international merchandise trade
1355 US Redbook index
1400 US Fed's Tarullo speech
1445 US Markit services and composite PMI
1500 US ISM non-manufacturing PMI
1900 US FOMC minutes
2130 US API weekly crude oil stocks
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Home Secretary Theresa May has insisted she is the only contender to succeed David Cameron as prime minister who can unite the UK and secure the best Brexit deal after emerging as the frontrunner in the race. May is in pole position for the Conservative leadership after getting the votes of half the party's MPs, 165 in total, in the first round of the contest, and securing the backing of two rivals. After quitting the race, Work & Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb said May was the only candidate who could "unite our party and "form a cohesive and strong government", while eliminated former defence secretary Liam Fox stressed: "Experience matters." May's dominant first-round performance and energy minister Andrea Leadsom's strong showing in second place with 66 votes paves the way for an all-woman run-off.
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MPs are set to vote on Wednesday on whether the UK government should guarantee that European Union nationals can stay in Britain after it pulls out of the bloc. Labour will hold a debate and force a division in the Commons in an effort to ramp up pressure on Theresa May, the frontrunner to succeed David Cameron as prime minister. The Home Secretary has so far failed to guarantee the status of three million EU nationals living in the UK, insisting it must be a part of Brexit negotiations despite a furious backlash from Tory MPs.
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The long-awaited official inquiry report into Britain's bitterly contested invasion of Iraq will finally be published Wednesday amid calls for Tony Blair to be held to account for taking the country to war. Thirteen years after British troops crossed into Iraq and seven years after the inquiry began work, John Chilcot will deliver his verdict on the UK's most controversial military engagement of the post war era. The former Whitehall mandarin has said from the outset he would not rule on whether the invasion in 2003 was legal in terms of international law, pledging to provide a "full and insightful" account of the decision-making process.
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UK shop prices declined at a faster pace in June, the British Retail Consortium said. Shop prices decreased 2% in June from a year ago, which was bigger than May's 1.8% decline. Food prices slid 0.8% annually, the largest decrease in more than a year. The survey was conducted between June 6 and 10, ahead of Britons voted to leave the EU.
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Germany's factory orders remained unchanged in May, provisional data from Destatis showed. Factory orders stayed flat after easing by revised 1.9% in April. Economists had forecast orders to grow 1% after April's initially reported 2% fall.
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Japan's conservatives could win a two-thirds majority in the upper house in elections at the weekend, according to a survey reported Wednesday, which would allow Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to push forward with his long-held plan to reform the constitution. Abe has said he wants to give the country more rights to military action than currently allowed under the founding charter, drawn up under US occupation following Japan's defeat in World War II. The latest polls were predicting a strong win for Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, and a total of more than 66% of the seats for the LDP combined with its alliance partner Komeito and other parties would support constitutional reform, Kyodo News agency reported.
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US President Barack Obama offered a resounding endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as he began campaigning on her behalf. Obama praised her character and reflected on their long political history, including the hard-fought nomination battle between them in 2008 and his decision to ask her to be his secretary of state. But the rally was overshadowed by questions about Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state from 2009-13. Earlier Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey said that Clinton had exercised poor judgement in the matter, even as he declined to recommend charges.
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Clinton continues to lead Donald Trump in a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, although the likely Democratic presidential nominee's advantage has narrowed significantly. The survey found that 45.6% of voters support Clinton and 40.4% favor Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Clinton benefits from strong support among women and minority voters, while Trump has the edge among men and white voters. The advantage for Clinton in the latest poll compares to the 50% to 39% lead she held over Trump in a USA TODAY survey conducted two months ago.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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HSBC CUTS TESCO TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 195 (240) PENCE
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HSBC CUTS MORRISON SUPERMARKETS TO 'REDUCE' ('HOLD') - TARGET 135 (165) PENCE
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MACQUARIE RAISES LLOYDS TO 'OUTPERFORM' (NEUTRAL) - PRICE TARGET 65 (70) PENCE
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MACQUARIE CUTS BARCLAYS PRICE TARGET TO 175 (230) PENCE - 'OUTPERFORM'
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TRADERS: HSBC CUTS GREAT PORTLAND TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: HSBC RAISES CAPITAL & COUNTIES TO 'HOLD' ('REDUCE')
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TRADERS: GOLDMAN CUTS WEIR GROUP TO 'BUY' ('CONVICTION BUY LIST')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Budget airline easyJet said both the number of passengers carried and its load factor rose in June year-on-year. Passenger numbers increased by 5.8% in June to 6.9 million from 6.6 million in the same month the year before, while load factor grew by 1.4 percentage points to 94.1% from 92.7%. Late Tuesday, International Consolidated Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, Ireland's Aer Lingus, and Spanish carriers Iberia and Vueling, too posted growth in group traffic and load factor. IAG's group traffic, measured by revenue passenger kilometres, rose by 14% in June on a year before, while load factor improved to 84.0% from 83.7%.
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Shareholders in New Zealand-based pay-television operator Sky Network Television on Wednesday voted in favour of the company's proposed merger with the New Zealand arm of telecommunications giant Vodafone Group. The pair entered into an agreement to merge in June, under which Sky Network will buy all the shares in Vodafone New Zealand for a total NZD3.44 billion, around GBP1.69 billion at current exchange rates, and Sky Network will issue new shares to Vodafone Europe BV, giving Vodafone a 51% stake in the resulting business. Sky Network said 99.96% of its shareholders voted in favour of the deal.
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The chief executive of insurer and investment manager Aviva said the company remains in a strong position and should be able to continue to grow following the UK's vote to leave the European Union. Mark Wilson, speaking ahead of Aviva's capital markets day, said the "fundamentals are sound" in the business. Wilson said it is too early to quantify the precise impact a Brexit will have, but said Aviva is "confident we can continue to grow".
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Prudential's M&G Investments on Tuesday became the third fund manager to suspend trading in one of its property funds following a surge in redemptions as the UK's vote to leave the European Union drives uncertainty in the commercial property sector. The suspension by M&G follows suspensions to trading in property funds run by Standard Life Investments, the investment management arm of Standard Life, and by Aviva Investor, the funds arm of Aviva. M&G said investor redemptions in the M&G Property Portfolio have "risen markedly" due to the high levels of uncertainty in the UK commercial property market since the outcome of the EU referendum.
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Deutsche Boerse welcomed the London Stock Exchange Group shareholders' approval on the recommended all-share merger between the two exchange operators. Joachim Faber, chairman of the Deutsche Boerse supervisory board said, "I strongly endorse the statement of London Stock Exchange Group following their general meeting and continue to recommend the transaction to the shareholders of Deutsche Boerse." Separately, Deutsche Boerse said that it entered into an agreement with Hale Global to sell Market News International, a provider of macroeconomic and markets intelligence for global fixed income and foreign exchange market professionals.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Construction and support services company Carillion said it expects a growth in revenue in its first half to offset a slight reduction in its underlying operating margin, as it announced it has been awarded a number of support services contracts worth up to GBP600.0 million. The company said it expects its performance in the first half to be led by revenue and margin growth within its support services division, which it said is expected to offset the effect on its profit of a slight reduction in underlying operating margin.
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Daejan Holdings said its pretax profit fell in its recently completed financial year, as the valuation gain made on its investment property came in lower than the year before, but the FTSE 250 property company still hiked its dividend. Daejan posted a pretax profit of GBP173.2 million for the year ended March 31, down from the GBP277.5 million recorded a year earlier, despite a rise in total rental and related income from its investment properties to GBP138.2 million from GBP129.0 million. Daejan will pay a final dividend of 58 pence per share, taking its total dividend to 93.00p per share, up from the 88.00p per share offered a year earlier.
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Convenience store operator and wholesale retailer Booker Group reported growth in sales in the first quarter of its financial year and said it is on track for the full year. Booker, which owns wholesaler Makro as well as convenience chains Budgens and Londis, said group sales in the 12 weeks ended June 17 rose by 10% year-on-year, with tobacco sales up 6.4% and non-tobacco up 12%. On a like-for-like basis, however, which excludes Budgens and Londis as they only joined the company last year, group sales fell by 2.9% as tobacco sales were down 7.7% and non-tobacco slipped 0.7%.
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John Wood Group late Tuesday said it has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Librestream Technologies to provide services that will allow the oil and gas industry to meet its "cost challenges faster and with greater certainty". Librestream is a Canadian company offering a variety of video collaboration products that are used within the manufacturing, energy and public sector industries, and Wood Group plans to assist in expanding the technology into the oil and gas sector.
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Steel and mining firm Evraz late Tuesday said Chief Financial Officer Pavel Tatyanin has resigned after spending 15 years with the business as he pursues other interests. Giacomo Baizini, the current chief financial officer of Evraz Group SA, will takeover as the group's interim chief financial officer whilst the company conducts an "intensive search" for a successor, which has already been launched.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Melrose Industries said it has agreed a USD1.44 billion deal to acquire US manufacturing company Nortek and will launch a rights issue of shares to finance the deal. Melrose said it will acquire Providence, Rhode Island-based Nortek for USD86.00 per share, a 38% premium to Nortek's closing price on NASDAQ in New York on Tuesday. Melrose said its offer already has support of shareholders representing 68.7% of Nortek, as well as the unanimous support of the Nortek board. Melrose will finance the deal with a fully-underwritten rights issue of 12 new shares at 95.00 pence per share for each 1 existing share, raising a total of GBP1.61 billion.
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Security systems provider Newmark Security issued a profit warning as it said trading has become increasingly difficult in recent months. The company recently had said trading for the year to the end of April 2016 was in line with market expectations, but said conditions have deteriorated since then. Operating profit for the current financial year to April 2017 is likely to fall significantly year-on-year, it said.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Consumers in the UK are preparing a GBP19 billion class action lawsuit against MasterCard, almost two years after a EU court ruled the processing fees the company had charged for cross-border transactions were unfair. Walter Merricks, a lawyer who once led the UK organisation that handles consumer disputes with banks, has hired Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to draft a lawsuit they plan to file by September. The claim would be the UK's biggest and one of the first filed under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. MasterCard has faced numerous lawsuits since EU courts said the company's fees for cross-border payments unfairly restricted competition.
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Wednesday's Shareholder Meetings

TechFinancials
Booker Group
Mobile Tornado Group
Palace Capital
Shires Income
Altitude Group
J Sainsbury
Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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