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LONDON (Alliance News) - Two retailers lead early gains in London Wednesday after reporting strong results. The market is mostly higher, as investors await US GDP figures and the results of the US Federal Reserve meeting.

FTSE 100 retailer Next is up 2.7%. It reported sales growth in the first quarter of 2015 ahead of its earlier guidance, as its launched its summer collection "helpfully" amid a warm spell. Next also declared a special dividend.

In the FTSE 250, Home Retail Group leads gainers, up 3.8%, after saying benchmark pretax profit for its recently ended financial year was at the top end of its expectations. The company said both Argos and Homebase demonstrated a second year of like-for-like sales growth.

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 7,038.14
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 17,685.64
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 753.62
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Hang Seng: down 0.1% at 28,408.74
Nikkei 225: market closed for Showa Day holiday.
DJIA: closed up 0.4% at 18,110.14
S&P 500: closed up 0.3% at 2,114.76
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GBP: up at USD1.5381
EUR: up at USD1.0984

GOLD: down at USD1,208.69 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD64.30 a barrel

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

09:00 Italy Business and Consumer Confidence
10:00 EU Consumer Confidence and Economic Sentiment Indicator
11:00 UK CBI Distributive Trades Survey
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
13:00 Germany Consumer Price Index preliminary
13:30 US Gross Domestic Product preliminary
13:30 US Personal Consumption Expenditures
15:00 US Pending Home Sales
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
19:00 US Fed Interest Rate Decision
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UK house prices increased at the fastest pace since June 2014, the Nationwide Building Society reported. House prices were up 1% in April from the prior month, the strongest growth since June 2014. Economists had forecast house price growth to rise marginally to 0.2% from 0.1% in March. On a yearly basis, house prices advanced 5.2% in April, faster than March's 5.1% increase. House price growth accelerated in April after easing for seven straight months. Economists had forecast the annual growth rate to slow to 4.1%.
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The two main UK parties continued to chop and change at the top of voter polls ahead of next week's General Election, as Labour returned to the lead in the daily YouGov poll and the Conservatives did the same in the latest TNS poll. Labour pushed back into the lead in the YouGov/The Sun poll, gaining a point to 35% as the Tories lost a point to fall to 34%. But a new poll from TNS UK showed tides moving in the opposite direction, with the Tories gaining two points to move to 34%, overtaking Labour which lost a single point to sit at 33%.
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Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz replaced his younger-half brother with his nephew as the next in line to the throne of the Gulf monarchy, in a middle-of-the-night reshuffle of the government. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef replaces Crown Prince Muqrin, marking a generational shift as he becomes the first grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia to move so close to the throne. The king's son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was made the new deputy crown prince, according to the announcement, made on Saudi television and carried by the state-run news agency early Wednesday.
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The official death toll from the earthquake in Nepal reached 4,731, with 1,448 of the fatalities recorded in the capital Kathmandu. More movement was visible on the streets as people who had spent days in terror since Saturday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck ventured out, to buy essentials or to go to work despite the fear provoked by numerous aftershocks.
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US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promoted an Asia Pacific trade deal under negotiation as good for both their economies, while insisting the move was not aimed at containing the rise of China. In talks in the Oval Office, Obama and Abe discussed progress toward the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal among the US, Japan and 10 other Asia Pacific nations. Obama said he was confident agreement could be reached.
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Tensions eased in the US city of Baltimore Tuesday after peace-keeping civilians kept rock-throwing protestors at bay from lines of police in riot gear. The presence of 2,000 National Guard troops and 1,000 additional police from the region helped maintain order as Baltimore recovered from its shock after widespread rioting took police by surprise on Monday.
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The Nigerian military said it has freed 200 girls and 93 women from the hands of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. But the more than 200 girl students kidnapped from their school in the town of Chibok more than a year ago were not among those freed, according to army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman as quoted by the Nigerian newspaper This Day.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: EXANE BNP INITIATES SHIRE WITH 'OUTPERFORM' - TARGET 6500 PENCE
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CITIGROUP REMOVES ASTRAZENECA FROM 'FOCUS LIST EUROPE'
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BERENBERG RAISES VODAFONE TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - PRICE TARGET 270 (214) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Barclays reported a 27% drop in first-quarter pretax profit as the bank set aside GBP800 million in provisions that were mostly related to investigations into regulators' investigations into alleged foreign exchange manipulation. In a statement, the lender reported a pretax profit of GBP1.34 billion in the three months ended March 31, compared with a pretax profit of GBP1.81 billion in the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
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Antofagasta said production for the full year will be less than its guidance after production fell and costs increased in the first quarter of 2015 due to the ongoing disruptions at the Los Pelambres mine in Chile and heavy rain affecting its other operations.
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London Stock Exchange Group reported higher first-quarter revenue, driven by its information services business and the acquisition of the Frank Russell Company. In a statement, the group said revenue increased to GBP581.0 million the the three months ended March 31, compared with GBP311.8 million in the corresponding period of the prior year. Total income increased to GBP602.5 million from GBP336.5 million. The revenue figure included a GBP246.5 million contribution from Russell Investment Management, the part of the Frank Russell business that the group is trying to sell. Excluding Russell Investment Management, total income rose 6%, the LSE said.
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J Sainsbury said it is taking all necessary steps to appeal against "groundless claims" that Chief Executive Mike Coupe allegedly illegally seized cheques in Egypt that were paid to the retailer when it sold out of its Egyptian joint venture. Sainsbury said the case is an historic commercial dispute in which Coupe had no involvement and it strongly refutes all the allegations.
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The Weir Group said its order input in the first quarter was dragged lower by weak demand in oil and gas markets, which it expects to continue in the second quarter and which will result in further cost cuts being made. Weir said group order input in the first quarter was down 9%, with revenue declining broadly in line with the fall, dragged lower by a 23% fall in order input from upstream oil and gas markets, where capital expenditure levels have come under pressure from the declining oil price.
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Standard Life said its assets under administration increased by 5% in the first quarter of the year, citing net inflows and positive market movements. In a statement, the life and investments company said assets under administration increased to GBP311.9 billion from GBP296.6 billion during the three months ended March 31. Net inflows amounted to GBP2.9 billion as gross flows more than offset redemptions, while market movements added another GBP12.4 billion to assets under administration.
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Next reported sales growth in the first quarter of 2015 ahead of its earlier guidance, which it said resulted from the earlier launch of its summer "New-In" brochure, which "helpfully" coincided with much warmer weather. The fashion retailer reported sales growth of 4.1% in the thirteen weeks to April 25. It said full price sales were up 3.2%, slightly ahead of its guidance in March of 0% to 3%, and said total sales were up more than full price sales due to "a longer tail" to its winter end-of-season sale and a "larger mid-season sale" in Directory. Next said it will pay a further special dividend of 60 pence per share for the period.
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British American Tobacco said revenue fell 5.8% in the first quarter of 2015 as exchange rates went against it, but it took market share, grew volumes of it key growth brands, and said revenue would have risen 1.7% if exchange rates had remained constant as price increases offset overall volume declines. It kept its guidance for "another good year of earnings growth" at constant exchange rates in 2015, and said it still expects its profit to be weighted to the second half of the year because the first half is up against strong comparative figures from 2014.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Home Retail Group reported benchmark pretax profit for its recently ended financial year at the top end of its expectations, as both Argos and Homebase demonstrated a second year of like-for-like sales growth. The owner of the Argos general merchandise chain and the Homebase DIY chain reported pretax profit for the year ended February 28 of GBP132.1 million, up 14% from the GBP115.4 million the year before and at the top end of its expectations. Overall sales grew slightly by 1% to GBP5.7 billion, as like-for-like sales at Argos and Homebase grew 0.6% and 2.3%, respectively.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Twitter shares fell in after-market trading after closing the day's regular session down 18%, after its weak earnings report that was leaked an hour earlier than expected. The company's first quarter net loss widened from the year-ago quarter, while its adjusted earnings per share topped Street view. Revenue improved 74% year-over-year, but missed both its prior forecast and analysts' estimate, affected by a lower-than-expected contribution from its newer direct response products. The company also forecast second quarter and 2015 revenues below Street view.
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Spanish financial services firm Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria reported that its net attributable profit for the first-quarter surged to EUR1.54 billion from last year's EUR624 million.
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Swiss engineering firm ABB reported that its net income for the first-quarter increased 4% to USD564 million from USD544 million in the prior year. But quarterly revenue dropped to USD8.555 billion from USD9.471 billion in the prior year. Revenue grew 3% on a like-for-like basis.
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South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics Co reported a 39% year-over-year decline in first-quarter profit, reflecting weak sales of smartphones amid intense competition. However, sales and operating profit for the quarter came in slightly above Samsung's guidance released earlier in the month. Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung has now reported its sixth consecutive quarter of decline in earnings amid the continued slowdown in its core smartphone business as the company grapples with increased competition.
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Apple is still undervalued and misunderstood, activist investor Carl Icahn tweeted, despite the company posted strong quarterly results on Monday. He expects to put out another in-depth report within two weeks.
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Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to open 115 new stores across China by 2017, creating more than 30,000 jobs, according to reports.
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Kraft Foods Group said its profit for the first quarter declined more than 16%, hurt by lower demand for desserts and snack nuts as well as acquisition-related costs and other expenses, with revenues falling short of Wall Street expectations. Nevertheless, earnings for the quarter topped estimates.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Segro
MTI Wireless Edge
Countrywide
British American Tobacco
Aggreko
Aviva
HellermannTyton Group
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate
EMIS Group
Global Invacom Group
Nichols
Admiral
Aberdeen UK Tracker Trust
Asian Total Return Investment Co
Devro
Fidessa Group
Lancashire Holdings
Alliance Trust
Weir Group
Polar Capital Global Financials Trust
EP Global Opportunities Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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