Empiric Share News (ESP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stock indices have opened higher Friday after a positive session in Asian equities markets, as investors await the release of some key macroeconomic data from the UK, Europe and the US, as well as a raft of speeches from central bankers.

Building supply stocks Travis Perkins, Wolseley, and Howden Joinery are amongst the best-performing stocks early in the session after Jefferies upgraded them all to Buy.

The FTSE 100 will get its sixth female chief executive early in 2016 after Whitbread said Lloyds Banking Group executive Alison Brittain will be its next chief executive.

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 7,025.32
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 18,184.07
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 764.80
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Hang Seng: up 1.7% at 27,994.77
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.3% at 20,264.41
DJIA: closed flat at 18,285.74
S&P 500: closed up 0.2% at 2,130.82
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GBP: up at USD1.5669
EUR: up at USD1.1149

GOLD: up at USD1,208.59 per ounce
OIL (Brent): flat at USD66.42 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 Germany IFO
09:00 Italy Industrial Orders and Sales
09:00 EU ECB President Draghi Speech
09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
10:00 Italy Retail Sales
13:30 US Consumer Price Index
13:30 Canada Consumer Price Index
13:30 Canada Retail Sales
14:30 UK BOE Governor Carney speech
14:30 Japan Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda Speech
14:30 EU ECB President Draghi Speech
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British households perceive that the value of their home increased in May, a survey from Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, or HPSI, fell slightly to 58.0 in May from 58.2 in the previous month. However, a reading above 50 indicates a rise in house prices. This marked the twenty-sixth successive month of the index remaining above 50. A slight decrease in the latest reading showing that households may have factored in the uncertainty caused by the General Election to perceived price growth, the survey said.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron will take advantage of an EU summit in Riga this week to start discussing a renegotiation of the relationship between his country and the bloc, a leading member of his cabinet said Thursday. Cameron's Conservative Party won an outright parliamentary majority this month on a promise, among other things, to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership in the EU and to hold a referendum on the issue by the end of 2017. The British premier will meet his EU counterparts for the first time since the elections on Friday, at the gathering between EU leaders and eastern neighbours.
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was holding talks Thursday evening with his German and French counterparts, as part of the bid to avert a bankruptcy in Athens. The late-night meeting was taking place behind closed doors in Riga, on the margins of a summit between EU leaders and their eastern neighbours, a German government spokesman said. It came amid fears that Greece will soon run out of money, after struggling for months to agree with creditors on reforms that would unblock 7.2 billion euros (8 billion dollars) under an existing international bailout.
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Germany's economic growth eased as estimated in the first quarter largely due to the weakness in foreign trade, final data from Destatis showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially in the first quarter, slower than the 0.7% expansion seen in the fourth quarter. Likewise, annual growth slowed to 1.1% from 1.6% in the prior quarter. This was the slowest growth since the second quarter of 2014. The calendar-adjusted GDP also grew at a slower pace of 1% after rising 1.4% a quarter ago.
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The total value of new orders received by the German construction industry declined in March, figures from Destatis showed. Orders in the construction sector fell a seasonally and working-day-adjusted 2.2% month-over-month in March. Demand in the civil engineering construction sector decreased 2.8% in March from the prior month and orders in the building construction sector went down by 1.7%. On an annual basis, the price and working-day-adjusted order intakes grew by 1.7% in March.
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The Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged, as expected, on Friday. The bank decided by an 8-1 majority vote to maintain its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion. The bank also left its asset purchase policy unchanged. The bank's view on the domestic economy, core consumer prices, industrial production and consumer price inflation was also unchanged.
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The US Senate on Thursday took another step toward passing fast-track trade legislation, with strong backing from President Barack Obama to clear the way for the advancement of two major trade deals under negotiation. The Senate voted 62-38 to end debate on the bill and move to final consideration as early as Friday. Thirteen Democrats joined the Republican majority after Obama made a round of calls to ensure support from within his own Democratic party. Obama called the vote "a big step forward" on his top economic priorities - trade deals with 11 other Pacific Rim countries and with the 28-member EU.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Numis Upgrades Investec To Add From Hold, Price Target Raised To 700p From 557p
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BERENBERG CUTS AVEVA GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 1977 PENCE
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JEFFERIES RAISES GRAFTON GROUP TO 'BUY' ('UNDERPERFORM') - TP 960 (530) PENCE
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JEFFERIES RAISES HOWDEN JOINERY TO 'BUY' ('UNDERPERFORM') - TP 600 (380) PENCE
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JEFFERIES RAISES TRAVIS PERKINS TO 'BUY' (UNDERPERFORM) - TP 2650 (1510) PENCE
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JEFFERIES RAISES WOLSELEY TO 'BUY' ('UNDERPERFORM') - TARGET 4710 (2660) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES BP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERWEIGHT') - PRICE TARGET 450 (410) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES QINETIQ TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 245 (210) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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HSBC Holdings confirmed it is exploring strategic options for its Brazilian operations, including a potential sale. In a small filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, HSBC said no decision has yet been made to proceed with the deal and it will make a further statement when appropriate.
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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority said its provisional findings on the acquisition of the K-Y brand by Reckitt Benckiser Group has found that the deal may result in higher prices for consumers. The CMA, the UK's antitrust regulator, said that after considering the evidence put forward, its provision findings on the deal is that the acquisition will lead to a substantial reduction in competition in the personal lubricants market, potentially through higher prices, meaning customers buying the products would be worse off. "We are now inviting responses to these provisional findings and will continue to assess all the evidence before we make our final decision," it said.
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Whitbread said Lloyds Banking Group executive Alison Brittain will be its next chief executive, becoming the sixth female CEO of a FTSE 100 company. The owner of the Premier Inn and Costa Coffee chains said Brittain will join the company on January 4, 2016, and will succeed Andy Harrison who is retiring from full-time executive life at the end of February, 2016. Brittain, aged 50, is currently Group Director, Retail Division at Lloyds Banking Group, which she joined in 2011. She had previously held roles at Santander UK and Barclays and is also a non executive director of Marks and Spencer Group.
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Severn Trent said its pretax profit more than halved in the last financial year due to losses on financial instruments, but underlying earnings and revenue rose, leading to the company increasing its dividend as expected. The FTSE 100-listed UK water company said its pretax profit for the year ended March 31 more than halved to GBP148.2 million from GBP318.9 million a year earlier. However, excluding exceptional items and losses on financial instruments, profit rose to GBP300.4 million from GBP276.1 million as revenue climbed to GBP1.80 billion from GBP1.75 billion.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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SEGRO said it has exchanged contracts to buy 90% of Vailog Srl for EUR39.6 million, or about GBP28.1 million, a move that gives it an immediate platform in the big box warehouse sector in northern Italy and new assets elsewhere including Paris. Vailog is an Italian logistics real estate development company that has developed over 1.5 million square metres of logistics space in Italy, France and the Netherlands, and has a land bank and options over land principally in Milan, Bologna, Rome, Paris, Lyon and Arnhem in the Netherlands.
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Close Brothers Group reported growth in its banking loan book and in its assets under management in the third quarter of its financial year, as well as improved market conditions for its Winterflood securities business. The banking and asset management group said its banking division is generating "solid" returns, with its loan book up 2.7% in the three months ended April 30 to GBP5.6 billion. Assets under management increased to GBP10.6 billion, up 4% in the quarter, due to "solid" net inflows and positive market movements, while the revenue margin remained "broadly stable" on the first half.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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London-focused property developer Quintain Estates & Development said its net asset value per share rose in 2014 as the group reported good demand for its residential properties and said that it has agreed a deal to sell a 50% stake in the Hilton London Wembley hotel for GBP40 million. Quintain said its net asset value rose to GBP639.4 million in the year to the end of March, up 7%, with its net asset value per share rising to 122 pence from 115 pence a year earlier. Revenue rose to GBP57.7 million, from GBP32.6 million, boosted by a rise in net rental income to GBP15.8 million from GBP3.8 million.
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Suit retailer and hire company Moss Bros Group said it is on track in the first fifteen weeks of its financial year, with robust retail sales and hire growth meaning it is confident it will hit market expectations for the year as a whole. The company said total sales in the fifteen weeks from February 1 to May 16 rose 6.4%, with like-for-like sales up 7.4%. Like-for-like retail sales, including its e-commerce channel, rose 7.6%, while like-for-like hire sales were up 6.4%, continuing the "encouraging" trend the company has seen in 2015 wedding bookings. Retail gross margins are ahead year-on-year, Moss Bros said, boosted by the earlier clearance of residual stocks.
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Bacanora Minerals and Rare Earth Minerals said they have identified possible resource expansion targets at the Sonora lithium project in Mexico after Bacanora drilled 22 holes on the La Venta concession. Bacanora owns all of the La Venta concession, with Rare Earth holding a 15.4% stake in Bacanora. Results from 18 of the 22 holes drilled indicate that the lithium content of both upper and lower clays increases to the south on La Ventana, as well as maintaining grade and thickness down dip at depth, Bacanora said.
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Empiric Student Property said it has acquired the freehold on an operational, direct-let student accommodation property in Durham for GBP5.1 million. The St Margaret's Flats building was construction in 1994 as a resident for the University of Durham and has 109 beds, primarily comprising 5-bed flats.
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LGO Energy said it has completed drilling the GY-674 well on the Goudron field in Trinidad, and said electric log interpretation has confirmed the presence of recoverable hydrocarbons. The company said the electric log interpretation from both the Goudron and C-san intervals in the GY-674 well have confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons, with an estimated net oil pay in the Goudron sandstone of 650 feet and a net hydrocarbon pay in the C-sand of 140 feet.
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ReNeuron Group said the US Food and Drug Administration has given a Fast Track designation to the company's human retinal progentiro cell therapy candidate for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa. Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of hereditary diseases of the eye that lead to progressive loss of sight due to cells in the retina becoming damaged and eventually dying. The fast track status grant comes after ReNeuron earlier this month said it has received regulatory approval in the US for a phase 1/2 clinical trial in the US for its stem cell therapy candidate for retinitis pigmentosa.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Swiss luxury goods group Compagnie Financiere Richemont said its full-year profit declined to 1.334 billion euros from 2.067 billion euros reported last year. Prior-year results have been restated. Attributable profit dropped to 1.334 billion euros from 2.072 billion euros. Earnings per share fell to 2.356 euro from 3.676 euro. According to the company, the decline in profit was primarily due to mark-to-market losses on cash. Sales grew 4% to 10.410 billion euros from 10.023 billion euros in the prior year. The growth was 1% at constant exchange rates.
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Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co said that its second quarter profit fell 21% from last year, hurt by lower revenue and costs related to the planned separation of the company. However, the company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in above analysts' expectations, but its quarterly revenue fell short of analysts' forecast. At the same time, the company gave a downbeat earnings forecast for the current quarter, but maintained its fiscal year 2015 earnings outlook.
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Apparel retailer Gap Inc reported a drop in profit for the first quarter, as revenues declined three percent, hurt mostly by continued weak sales at its namesake brand and Banana Republic. Both earnings and revenues for the quarter came in short of Wall Street estimates. San Francisco-based Gap's first-quarter profit dropped to USD239 million or USD0.56 per share from USD260 million or USD0.58 per share a year ago. Results for the quarter includes a one-time benefit of about USD0.02 a share related to a reversal of tax-related interest expense. On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of USD0.56 per share for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Aminex
Moss Bros
Informa
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