FJET.L Share News (FJET)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened higher in London Monday, despite further weak economic data from China over the weekend, as market focus is firmly on the US interest rate decision due on Thursday.

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 6,160.95
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 17,019.21
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 734.92
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Hang Seng: up 0.2% at 21,535.80
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.6% at 17,965.70
DJIA: closed up 0.6% at 16,433.09
S&P 500: closed up 0.5% at 1,961.05
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GBP: up at USD1.5459
EUR: up at USD1.1360

GOLD: up at USD1,108.25 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD47.86 a barrel

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

09:00 Italy Consumer Price Index
10:00 EU Industrial Production
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Veteran left-wing politician Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of Britain's Labour Party in a landslide vote that was expected to take the party to the left. Following a campaign that saw him move from rank outsider to frontrunner, Corbyn took 60% of the votes cast against three other candidates in the first round. Corbyn, 66, celebrated his win by saying his campaign "showed our party and our movement passionate, democratic, diverse, united and absolutely determined in our quest for a decent and better society that is possible for all."
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Two economic reports added fuel to concerns about slowing economic growth in China. Industrial production in the country was up by 6.1% year-on-year in August, according to the country's National Bureau Of Statistics. This was marginally better than the 6.0% growth reported in July, but below expectations of 6.4%. In addition, fixed-asset investment in non-rural areas of the country rose by 10.9% in the first eight months of the year, but this was also below expectations of 11.10% and slower than the 11.20% increase measured for the first seven months. However, retail sales in China grew 10.8% year-on-year in August, beating the 10.5% consensus and July reading.
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China has issued a guideline on reforming state-owned enterprises, with a goal of making them fully independent market entities, according to a report. The guideline called for mixed ownership, improved state assets management and prevention of the erosion of state assets, Xinhua news agency reported. The 20-page guideline was jointly issued on August 24 by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council. "SOE reform should follow the rules and laws of market economy for enterprise development, and adhere to...separation of ownership and management," the document said. China's state-owned enterprises dominate the telecoms, shipping, securities, banking and oil and gas sectors.
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China and the US have reached an agreement on combating cyber crimes, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The agreement was reached during a visit by President Xi Jinping's special envoy Meng Jianzhu, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee.
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Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the results of the general election "reflect the will of the people," as his People's Action Party or PAP secured a landslide victory, gaining 83 of the 89 parliamentary seats. Lee, who is also the Secretary-General of PAP, thanked citizens for their strong support, saying the election results show that Singaporeans have rejected divisive politics and support rational approaches to solving the nation's problems in an open letter to Singaporeans.
The ruling PAP received 69.86% of the popular vote, an increase of almost 10 percentage points from its share in 2011.
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Germany is immediately imposing emergency border controls with Austria to stem the tide of refugees, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Sunday, as train service from Austria to Germany was halted. "The goal is to limit the current influx of refugees to Germany and to have them arrive in an orderly fashion to their destination," de Maiziere said in Berlin. The measures were required for "security reasons," he said. According to reports from a preparatory meeting late Sunday in Brussels of country ambassadors at the EU, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary still have objections to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposal for mandatory distribution of 120,000 refugees across the bloc.
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Eurozone finance ministers expressed confidence that Greece would stick to the terms of its new bailout after snap polls next weekend, despite election pledges by former prime minister Alexis Tsipras to seek improvements to the deal. Last month, Greece was granted an EUR86 billion rescue package to stave off bankruptcy - its third in five years - in return for sweeping economic and social reforms, following months of fraught negotiations with its eurozone partners. Eurozone finance ministers insisted Saturday that the terms of the bailout cannot be changed. They were speaking ahead of informal talks in Luxembourg that were due also to focus on Greece's progress in implementing the agreed reforms.
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Swiss and US attorneys-general are to hold a joint press conference in Zurich Monday on the state of their investigations into corruption in world football. US attorney general Loretta Lynch and her counterpart from Switzerland, Michael Lauber, will give updates in Zurich on the "the status of two criminal proceedings," Swiss officials had said last week.
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Brazilian federal agents are seeking to question former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on suspicion that he may have benefited from corruption at the state-owned oil company, a magazine report said. The weekly Epoca revealed that the Federal Police told the Supreme Court that its investigation into the Petrobras scandal has led to Lula, as head of state and the ruling Workers' Party when many of the alleged bribes and misappropriations occurred.
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At least 107 people were killed when a construction crane collapsed onto Mecca's Grand Mosque during a storm Friday. Saudi Civil Defence reported at least 238 people injured, and that figure was expected to continue rising as it conducted a rescue operation at the world's largest mosque. The Masjid al-Haram surrounds the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, where Muslim pilgrims from around the world gather to worship. Authorities said a heavy rainstorm with high winds caused the crane to topple.
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The Egyptian government resigned on Saturday, days after one of its members was arrested for alleged corruption. State television said that Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb presented the government's resignation to President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, who accepted it and asked the government to continue doing its duty until a new one is formed. Later on Saturday, al-Sissi tasked the current oil minister, Sherif Ismail, with forming the new government, according to the broadcaster.
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Russia has in recent weeks sent military hardware and personnel to Syria to back up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a monitoring group reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Russian military planes carrying military equipment and hundreds of experts, as well as technicians, had arrived at the Hamim airbase near the coastal city of Latakia. Russia also plans to construct a runway at the airbase so as to be able to handle large military aircraft, the Britain-based watchdog said without giving details. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday said that his country would continue to support al-Assad's regime in what he called "its efforts to fight terrorism."
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Exiled Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi said he refuses to participate in peace talks with Iran-backed Houthi rebels, a fresh blow to efforts to end a months-long conflict in the impovreished country. In a statement carried by Yemen's official news agency Saba Net, Hadi linked participation in any peace talks to the Houthis' acceptance of a UN resolution which demands that the rebels withdraw from areas under their control in Yemen and hand over their weapons to state institutions.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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EXANE BNP RAISES RELX TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('UNDERPERFORM') - TARGET 1200 (1100) P.
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EXANE BNP INITIATES ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT WITH 'UNDERPERFORM' - TARGET 270 PENCE
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EXANE BNP INITIATES JUPITER FUND WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 470 PENCE
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EXANE BNP INITIATES ASHMORE GROUP WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 250 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Testing, inspection and certification services company Intertek Group said it has acquired Denmark-based Dansk Institut for Certificering for an undisclosed amount. The FTSE 100-listed company said Dansk Institut is a leading certification body in Denmark and will allow it to expand its presence in the Nordic market.
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A number of major banks have agreed to a USD1.87 billion settlement to resolve allegations that they conspired to limit competition in the credit default swaps market, Bloomberg reported. Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and HSBC Holdings all are understood to have reached an agreement in principle with a group of investors. Barclays and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group are also understood to be among the banks involved with the case.
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Separately, RBS is understood to have hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to prepare the London stock market listing of its Williams & Glyn spin-off, The Daily Telegraph reported. The initial public offering of the business is due to take place next year and is it thought the bank will look to raise GBP1.5 billion from the float, according to the newspaper.
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The chief executive of education and publishing company Pearson has said the company intends to keep hold of its stake in book publisher Penguin Random House until at least 2017, Bloomberg reported. Speaking to Bloomberg TV, John Fallon said Pearson is unlikely to exercise its option to sell its 47% stake in the publisher. It will be able to sell the stake as early as next month under its agreement with Bertelsmann AG, the German publisher which owns the other 53% of the business.
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Ireland-based, Lonon-listed pharmaceutical company Shire is weighing options for sweetening its multibillion-dollar, all-stock offer for US biotechnology firm Baxalta Inc by putting cash into shareholders' hands sooner, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. The Dublin-based drug maker's unsolicited proposal-disclosed last month and valued at about USD30.0 billion based on Shire's stock price at the time-excluded any cash. Shire said instead it would return cash to Baxalta investors by launching a share buyback program "promptly after" the close of the deal. Last Month, Baxalta, which was spun off from healthcare company Baxter International in early July, rejected an unsolicited USD30 billion takeover bid from Shire PLC, saying that its board of directors determined the offer was not in the best interests of Baxalta or its shareholders.
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Kuwait has agreed to buy 28 Typhoon fighter jets from the Eurofighter consortium of which BAE Systems is a member, The Telegraph reported. The newspaper said the sale is a vote of confidence for the jet, which has recently lost out on export orders to France’s Rafale jet. The sale was lead by fellow consortium member Alenia Aermacchi/Finmeccanica of Italy.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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ABCAM reported a rise in pretax profit in its recently ended financial year, and said its new financial year has "started well", as it announced that Chief Financial Officer Jeff Iliffe plans to step down within the next year. The life science research tools supplier reported a pretax profit of GBP46.1 million for the year to end-June, up from GBP43.6 million a year before. ABCAM proposed a final dividend of 5.92 pence, taking its total dividend for the year to 8.21 pence, up from 7.75 pence a year before.
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Trinity Mirror confirmed it is in talks with Local World Holdings for the potential acquisition of the shares in the company it does not already own. It noted that there can be no certainty any agreement will be reached, and said it will make a further announcement will be made if and when it is appropriate. Local World is a regional media newspaper publisher, with more than 100 print titles and 70 websites. Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns a 38.7% stake in Local World, noted the announcement by Trinity Mirror.
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African low-cost carrier Fastjet said it has appointed Colin Child as its non-executive chairman, with effect from October 1. Child is the former finance director at banknote printer De La Rue and was formerly a non-executive director of gambling company Rank Group. Clive Carver, interim chairman of Fastjet since April 1, will revert to his role as a non-executive director once Child starts.
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Chemring Group said its expectations for the full year remain unchanged as it said its revenue and order book have both strengthened in the first four months, despite further order delays and cancellations. The company, which makes countermeasures such as flares and decoys that military aircraft use against missile attack, as well as sensors and electronics used in military vehicles, said its revenue in the four months to the end of August was GBP119.0 million, up 24% on the GBP96.1 million it made a year earlier.
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Payments procession company Worldpay has postponed a decision on whether to proceed with a GBP6 billion London flotation, as it considers whether to accept instead an offer from French rival Ingenico, the Guardian reported Saturday. Sources said the decision on which route to take was finely balanced and indicated there would be another meeting on Sunday, according to the newspaper, saying it is believed that the company is weighing up the risk of both options.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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KKR and Apollo Global Management are seeking to acquire General Electric Co's inventory finance arm, a unit with USD11 billion in assets, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The buyout firms made bids two weeks ago for GE Capital Commercial Distribution Finance. GE could select a buyer by the end of the month for the unit, which arranges credit for retailers and manufacturers, the report said.
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Solera Holdings, a provider of software to the automotive and property marketplace, said it has entered into a definitive merger agreement by which an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners will acquire Solera in a transaction valued at about USD6.5 billion, including the existing net debt of Solera. Other key investors include an affiliate of Koch Equity Development, the investment and acquisition subsidiary of Koch Industries, and an affiliate of Goldman Sachs.
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Oil Search Ltd rejected Australian oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum's USD8 billion takeover bid, saying that the proposal is "highly opportunistic" and "grossly undervalues" the company. Oil Search is a Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas company. "Since receiving the proposal, the company has undertaken substantial shareholder engagement. The overwhelming feedback has been that this proposal has little merit," Oil Search said in a statement. Last Tuesday, Oil Search said that in a non-biding indicative proposal, Woodside Petroleum has offered a consideration of one Woodside share for every four shares held in Oil Search. The all-share offer valued the target company at AUD11.6 billion, or USD8.06 billion, based on its last traded price.
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Airbus Group said it will formally inaugurate its new Mobile, Alabama-based US manufacturing facility, on Monday. The site is the company's fourth A320 family final assembly line - joining a global production network for this single-aisle jetliner product line that also includes similar locations in Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany and Tianjin, China. Airbus has invested around USD600 million to build the facility in Mobile, which will employ about 1,000 workers. Airbus already employs 1,400 workers in the US for activities ranging from building helicopters to providing flight training. The company reportedly scaled back ambitious plans to secure Pentagon business after several failures to win high-profile contracts, such as producing aerial refueling planes for the US Air Force.
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Gulfsands Petroleum
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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