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LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks have opened sharply higher in London Friday and the pound has risen after it became increasingly clear that all the UK pre-election polls had been wrong and the Conservatives are set to win a slim overall majority.

The FTSE 250 has hit a new record high, with support services companies doing particularly well. Housebuilders, banks, transport stocks are also amongst the best performers across the main indices. Just two stocks are in the red in the FTSE 250.

The BBC said the Tories, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, are now forecast to achieve a working majority of 329 seats. Ahead of the election, opinion polls had the Tories and Labour parties tied, but as the results came in overnight it became clear that Labour had fallen considerably short of expectations as it was all but wiped out in Scotland by the Scottish Nationalist Party and failed to make the gains it had hoped for in England.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 1.2% at 6,967.72
FTSE 250: up 2.6% at 17,908.62
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 749.62
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Hang Seng: up 1.1% at 27,585.15
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.5% at 19,379.19
DJIA: closed up 0.5% at 17,924.06
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 2,088.00
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GBP: up at USD1.5453
EUR: down at USD1.1194

GOLD: up at USD1,186.01 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD65.40 a barrel

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

09:00 Italy Industrial Output
09:30 UK Trade Balance
13:15 Canada Housing Starts
13:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, Average Earnings
13:30 Canada Unemployment Rate
15:00 US Wholesale Inventories
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With 608 of 650 UK constituencies reporting, the Conservative Party has moved into the lead in the number of seats in Parliament won so far. The BBC is now forecasting the Tories will win 329 seats, giving the party an outright majority.
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Permanent job placements in the UK increased at the fastest pace in eight months in April amid tight candidate availability, the Report on Jobs compiled by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG showed Friday. The number of people placed in permanent jobs rose further in April and the rate of expansion quickened to an eight-month high. This reflected a stronger increase in demand for staff. At the same time, staffing level of temporary and contract staff increased at the slowest pace in six months in April.
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China's exports logged an unexpected fall on weak demand in April and imports declined more than expected adding to hopes of more economic stimulus. Exports fell 6.2% in April from last year in yuan terms, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Friday. Economists had forecast a 0.9% rise for April. Imports registered a double-digit decrease of 16.1% annually, sharper than an expected drop of 8.4%. Consequently, the trade surplus came in at CNY 210.2 billion, below the consensus forecast of CNY 173.8 billion.
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Members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting said that the country's economic recovery remains on track, minutes from the central bank's April 7 and 8 meeting revealed on Friday. The members added that inflation expectations appear to be successfully rising following years of deflation. They added that business investment also looks to be on the uptick as corporate profits improve. "Japan's economy has continued its moderate recovery trend. Overseas economies -- mainly advanced economies -- have been recovering, albeit with a lackluster performance still seen in part," the minutes said. At the meeting, the BoJ decided to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.10%.
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The US Senate voted Thursday 98 to 1 for legislation that would allow Congress to review the final nuclear deal with Iran. The measure, if adopted by the lower House of Representatives, would give Congress 30 days to approve or disapprove of the nuclear deal with Iran before any US sanctions are lifted. US President Barack Obama signaled he would sign the bill into law only after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee incorporated several amendments. The bill survived several efforts by opposition Republicans to add poison pills to the measure, such as demanding that Iran recognize Israel.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES IMPERIAL TOBACCO TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 3,650P (2,600P)
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S&P CAPITAL IQ RAISES BT GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - PRICE TARGET 475 (380) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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BG Group said its earnings and revenue in the first quarter of 2015 were substantially hit by the fall in the oil price which caused a poor performance from its production and exploration division. The company, which is being acquired by Royal Dutch Shell, said its pretax profit for the three months to end-March was USD708 million, down from USD1.89 billion a year earlier. BG Group reported earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation in the quarter of USD1.59 billion, down over 40% from the USD2.71 billion reported a year earlier, whilst earnings before interest and tax more than halving to USD945 million from USD1.97 billion.
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Rolls-Royce Holdings maintained its earnings guidance for 2015, saying a ramp up in deliveries of Trent XWB engines for Airbus planes would help offset the impact of lower oil prices in its Land & Sea business. The aircraft and marine engine maker, which last year issued a string of profit warnings, said it expects its results to be weighted to the second half of the year.
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InterContinental Hotels Group reported growth in global revenue per available room in the first quarter of 2015, boosted by a strong performance in all of its operating regions. The hotel operator, which owns brands including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and InterContinental Hotels, said global revenue per available room grew 5.9% in the first quarter, driven by an increased rate of 3.4% and growth in all four of the regions it operates in.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Just Eat will buy Australian online takeaway company Menulog Group Ltd for AUD855 million, financed from the proceeds of an equity issue, a move that expands its reach into both Australia and New Zealand. Menulog has more than 5,500 restaurants and 1.4 million consumers, Just Eat said, and its order volume grew 96% in the year in the three months ended March 31. It generated GBP13.5 million in revenue in the year to March 31. The equity fundraising is expected to be launched in mid- to late-May, following receipt of the approval of the acquisition by the Foreign Investment Review Board in Australia. Completion of the equity fundraising is expected early to mid June.
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Man Group reported a net outflow in the first quarter of 2015 but said funds under management increased, largely due to positive investment performance and the recent acquisition of Connecticut-based Silvermine. Separately, Man Group said it is looking for its next chairman as Jon Aisbitt intends to step down in May 2016. Phillip Colebatch, the hedge fund manager's senior independent director, will lead the board committee tasked with finding his successor. Funds under management increased to USD78.1 billion from USD72.9 billion in the first three months of 2015. Man reported a net outflow of USD1.3 billion as redemptions exceeded sales. Foreign exchange rate movements resulted in a USD2.0 billion hit to funds under management, largely due to the strengthening of the US dollar against the euro and sterling.
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Laird said trading was in line with expectations in the first quarter of 2015 and said new product launches in the second half of the year will underpin the company's current full year outlook. The wireless connectivity and radio frequency engineering company said first quarter revenue rose 24% to GBP149 million from GBP120 million, and in dollar terms it rose to USD226 million from USD199 million. Revenue rose due to increased demand in 2014 that was pushed into 2015.
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Aviation support services company BBA Aviation said it is trading in line with its expectations so far in 2015, with revenue down on the back of a fall in fuel prices but with organic revenue rising in its flight support and aftermarket services divisions. BBA said its reported revenue in the period from January 1 to April 25 was down 5%, thanks to the fall in fuel prices. On an organic basis, which strips out exchange rates, fuel prices and acquisition costs, revenue was up 3%.
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PayPoint said Chairman Warren Tucker has stepped down from the company with immediate effect, and will be replaced by Non-Executive Director Nick Wiles.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Aeorema Communications raised its guidance for the current financial year, saying it expects a strong finish based on recent order intake for events scheduled in May and June. In a short trading update, the company said it now expects revenue to exceed GBP4.2 million and pretax profit to exceed GBP350,000 in the year that ends June 30.
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IGas Energy said its Chairman and Co-Founder Andrew Austin will be stepping down from his role as the company announced it would cut its workforce by more than 25% in response to lower oil prices. Austin has passed on his role to Chief Financial Officer Stephen Bowler, with the pair working together for an undeclared amount of time to ensure a smooth transition and whilst a search for a new CFO is conducted. The onshore oil company focused in Britain said it has undertaken a review of its cost base in response to lower oil prices. The company said it is working with suppliers to make "meaningful" savings across the group and said it has decided to reduce its workforce and the amount of consultants it employs.
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Rosslyn Data Technologies Friday said it has secured two multi-year contracts with two unnamed companies worth a total of USD545,000. Rosslyn said the contracts have been won with a Fortune 500 services and technology company and a FTSE 250-listed outsourcing company, though it did not name either. Both clients are to use Rosslyn's RAPid Big Data Cloud Analytics Platform in order to integrate data from internal and external sources.
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Amerisur Resources said the Colombian government has approved the modification of its Platanillo field exploitation licence. The modification, approved by Colombia's Autoridad Nacional de Licenciamiento Ambiental, a part of the country's environment ministry, will allow for the construction and operation of the Ecuador interconnector oil pipeline. The Colombian authorities have also approved the company's application for the operation of two water disposal wells per production pad at Platanillo.
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Security and risk management consultancy Falanx Group said it has raised GBP2.64 million via a placing and subscription and has extended its strategic partnership with cybersecurity company Assuria. Falanx said it has issued 18.9 million shares at 14 pence per share to raise the funds. Its shares closed at 20.00 pence on Thursday. The company will use GBP500,000 to extend its global licence deal with Assuria to April 2018 and to back the roll-out of the alliance between the two. The other GBP2.14 million will be used to back the development of its own products.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, parent of UK telecom operator Three, announced that it reached agreements with five leading institutional investors who will acquire stakes totalling 33% in the aggregate in the combined businesses of Three and O2 UK for a total consideration of 3.1 billion pounds. The investors are Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC of Singapore, Limpart Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, CDPQ of Quebec, Canada and BTG Pactual of Brazil.
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US-based seed maker Monsanto Co has approached Swiss rival Syngenta AG with a USD45 billion offer, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Monsanto is said to have offered about 450 Swiss francs per share, representing a 35% premium to Syngenta's last close. However, Syngenta rejected the offer, although it is open to Monsanto upping the offer or starting talks.
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Music-streaming company Spotify is laying plans to enter Web-video business, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter, preparing to take on powerhouses like YouTube and Facebook Inc in a strategy that may put growth ahead of profit. The closely held streaming service has been in talks with several digital-media companies about potential partnerships. According to the report, Spotify has approached so-called multichannel networks that specialize in creating and distributing video for YouTube to discuss both acquiring their material and co-creating original video series. It also contacted some well-known traditional-media companies about potential alliances.
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Liberty Global reported first-quarter net loss of USD537.5 million or USD0.61 per share, wider than last year's loss of USD78.8 million or USD0.10 per share last year. The increase in net loss for the quarter was primarily due to the impact of the USD340 million gain on the sale of Chellomedia recognized last year. Revenues for the quarter dropped to USD4.52 billion from USD5.53 billion last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected loss of USD0.02 per share on revenues of USD4.58 billion for the quarter.
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CBS Corp reported first quarter earnings from continuing operations of USD394 million compared to USD462 million, prior-year, as a result of the lower operating income. EPS from continuing operations was USD0.78 compared to USD0.77 for the same quarter in 2014. Revenues were USD3.50 billion compared to USD3.57 billion for the same prior-year period. The company noted that the quarter was affected by the broadcast of one fewer National Football League playoff game on the CBS Television Network and lower advertising revenues at the company's Local Broadcasting segment.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Laird
Pendragon
Rolls Royce
Clarkson
Man Group
BBA Aviation
Morgan Advanced Materials
RSA Insurance
T Clarke
IHG
John Laing Infrastructure
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Contact: +44 207 199 0340; newsroom@alliancenews.com; @AllNewsTeam

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