Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened slightly weak in London on Monday, following the market's gains last week and ahead of a quiet day for economic data as the US celebrates the Columbus Day holiday.
Commodities trader and miner Glencore continued its efforts to address its debt pile, saying Monday it has begun a process to sell its wholly-owned Cobar copper mine in Australia and Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile. The stock is up 0.8%.
Shares in British Airways owner IAG are up 1.4% after being reinitiated by Goldman Sachs at Buy.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: down 0.5% at 6,386.14
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 17,050.33
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 736.57
----------
Hang Seng: up 0.6% at 22,597.55
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.6% at 18,438.67
DJIA: closed up 0.2% at 17,084.49
S&P 500: closed up 0.1% at 2,014.89
----------
GBP: up at USD1.5342 (USD1.5311)
EUR: flat at USD1.1363 (USD1.1365)
GOLD: up at USD1,164.85 per ounce (USD1,157.80)
OIL (Brent): up at USD52.94 a barrel (USD52.51)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)
Japan Health-Sports Day holiday
Canada Thanksgiving Day holiday
US Columbus Day holiday - markets open
13:10 US Fed's Lockhart speech
14:30 UK CB Leading Economic Index
15:30 US Fed's Evans speech
18:20 Canada BoC Governor Poloz speech
----------
The US and Russia held talks on measures to avoid accidents in Syrian airspace. During the 90-minute video conference, representatives from the US Defence Department and the Russian Ministry of Defence focused on safety procedures for both countries' military aircraft operating over Syria. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement that "progress was made" during the talks and the two sides agreed to future discussions. In recent weeks Russia has opened up an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as the US continues its own air sorties against the Islamic State in Syria.
----------
Two Royal Air Force personnel were among five killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan late Sunday, the British government said. The helicopter crashed "due to a non-hostile incident" while landing at a NATO headquarters in the capital Kabul, the alliance said. "The incident is currently under investigation but we can confirm that it was an accident and not the result of insurgent activity," a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said. The nationalities of the other three victims have not been released. Five others were injured in the crash.
----------
The worst attack in Turkey's modern history, a twin bombing of a pro-Kurdish peace rally that killed at least 95 people, exacerbated political tensions, three weeks before parliamentary elections. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Saturday's "heinous attack" in Ankara, but some of the people who rallied in several cities to protest the bombings chanted slogans calling him a "murderer." The pro-Kurdish opposition People's Democratic Party, which was one of the organizers of Saturday's rally, saw itself as the target of the attack and held the government accountable.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
---------
TRADERS: INVESTEC CUTS STANDARD CHARTERED TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
----------
GOLDMAN REINITIATES IAG WITH 'BUY' - PRICE TARGET 755 PENCE
----------
TRADERS: DEUTSCHE BANK INITIATES WORKSPACE GROUP WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 1,150P
----------
GOLDMAN CUTS KAZ MINERALS TO 'SELL' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 110 (130) PENCE
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
Commodities trader and miner Glencore said it has begun a process to sell its wholly-owned Cobar copper mine in Australia and Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile. The company said the sale process is in response to receiving a number of "unsolicited expressions of interest for these mines from various potential buyers". The process may or may not result in a sale, Glencore noted, and it said it will issue an update only in the event that a sale is agreed or a disclosure "is otherwise required".
----------
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto said it won't cut copper production, according to a Financial Times report. The miner said it would not be logical to hold back output and leave space in the market for rivals with higher costs, the report said.
----------
Anheuser-Busch InBev is expected to increase its GBP65 billion offer for SABMiller early this week, The Times reported. Citing sources close to AB InBev, the newspaper said the brewer was likely to table an improved offer valuing SABMiller at GBP43 to GBP44 per share before the 1700 BST deadline on Wednesday. Its current offer stands at GBP42.15 per share. The stock closed Friday at 3,668.50 pence. The report said that AB InBev is understood to be willing to move closer to GBP70 billion. However, the brewer is prepared to walk away if concessions are not made by SABMiller.
----------
A group of American pension and investment funds have launched a multimillion-dollar legal action against Tesco over its GBP263 million accounting scandal, The Times reported. The complaint was filed in Ohio's federal southern district court on Wednesday last week, the newspaper said. It was brought by Western & Southern Life Insurance Co, Western & Southern Financial Group, Integrity Life Insurance and Touchstone Strategic Trust.
----------
Royal Bank of Scotland Group is looking to buy more than GBP13 billion of mortgages up for sale by the UK government, The Sunday Times reported. According to the report, RBS, which is majority owned by the UK government, is battling with US hedge fund Cerberus and Spanish lender Sabadell for the deal. Sabadell recently TSB Banking Group PLC in the UK. The 13,000 home loans in question fell into government ownership since failed lender Northern Rock was nationalised seven years ago. Assets from collapsed lender Bradford & Bingley are also up for grabs.
----------
HSBC Holdings is facing a behind-the-scenes push for reform from a cadre of institutional shareholders, The Times reported. The report said the shareholders in question have concerns about the way the business is being run. They are said also to be be frustrated by the bank's underperformance.
----------
European investment banks ought to think about merging to compete with US rivals, Barclays Chairman John McFarlane said, the Financial Times reported. "If you did want to create an investment banking champion for Europe, you would have to combine the investment banking arms of the main players, but you would have to swallow really hard and you would need political support," John McFarlane told the FT.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Jupiter Fund Management said it attracted GBP77 million of total net inflows into its funds in the third quarter, bolstered by its mutual funds. In a statement, the fund manager said mutual fund net inflows amounted to GBP196 million in the three months to September 30, which together with GBP23 million of net inflows into investment trusts more than offset GBP142 million net outflows from segregated mandates. Overall, assets under management fell to GBP33.53 billion at the end of September, from GBP34.33 billion three months previously, with GBP884 million lost due to market movement and performance.
----------
Carillion reiterated confidence in achieving its targets for 2015 and ending the year with strong revenue visibility for 2016, as it said it has secured business worth around GBP1.7 billion since the end of its first half. Carillion said it has signed contracts, secured preferred bidder positions and been awarded frameworks worth around GBP1.7 billion since the end of June.
----------
Bank of Georgia Holdings is set to spin off its healthcare subsidiary in a float on the London Stock Exchange, according to statements. Georgia Healthcare Group intends to raise USD100 million when it floats on the exchange, while Bank of Georgia Holdings wants to sell an unspecified number of existing shares through its intermediate holding company. A further 10% of the total number of shares being sold under the offering will be made available to shareholders by Bank of Georgia Holdings in the form of an over-allotment option. Bank of Georgia Holdings is looking to crystallise its investment in the healthcare subsidiary, according to Chief Executive Irakli Gilauri, who also acts as chairman of Georgia Healthcare Group.
----------
John Laing Group said it will invest approximately EUR45 million to EUR50 million to acquire the Klettwitz wind farm in Brandenburg Schipkau in Germany from the site's developer Ventotec. The investor and manager of infrastructure projects said the wind farm also will be refinanced with new project finance. Total installed capacity at Klettwitz is 89 megawatts from 27 wind turbines. The project benefits from a feed in tariff for up to 20 years.
----------
COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
----------
NAHL Group said it has agreed to acquire Bush & Company Rehabilitation Ltd for GBP25 million, which it will partly fund through a share placing to raise GBP14.2 million. Bush & Company provides expert witness, immediate needs assessment and case management services. NAHL will place 4.12 million new shares at a price of 355 pence, which it said represents a 6.6% discount to the closing mid-market price of its shares last Friday of 380.1p.
----------
Hastings Group Holdings said late Friday its initial public offering has been priced at 170 pence per share, meaning the motor insurer is expected to join the London Stock Exchange valued at GBP1.12 billion by market capitalisation. The offer is expected to raise about GBP210 million, which would rise to GBP231 million if the over-allotment option is exercised. Hastings said it expects to receive GBP182 million of the gross proceeds from the offer, in line with the company's target.
----------
Retirement homebuilder McCarthy & Stone will unveil plans for a GBP1 billion flotation in London, according to a report from Sky News. Sources said Friday the company is likely to raise around GBP100 million in an initial public offering on the LSE, expected to be announced in the latter half of the week. The float comes following interest from buyout firm Bridgepoint and others in a takeover of the company, the report said.
----------
Priory, a private healthcare company, has hired JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch ahead of a GBP1 billion stock market float next year, according to a Sunday Times report. The report, which cited City sources, said that Barclays and Numis also have been drafted in to work on the float.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
Environmental regulators in the US state of California have given Volkswagen until November 20 to come up with a plan to refit vehicles affected by its diesel exhaust scandal, according to an article published in Germany. Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources Board, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, a cooperative of German media outlets, that if VW cannot come up with a technical solution, the vehicles may have to be taken off the road.
----------
Ferrari, the luxury car division of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is reportedly getting a much higher valuation than previously expected driven by its premium status of manufacturing high-performance luxury cars. According to reports, Ferrari expects the IPO to bring its market valuation to about EUR11 billion. Ferrari is now projected to be valued between EUR10 billion to EUR11 billion after Fiat Chrysler sells more than 10% stake in the division. Ferrari is set to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
----------
Dell will announce that it is buying data storage company EMC, according to media reports. The deal could be announced as early as Monday, reports specified. The deal would create a computing giant combining EMC's leadership in digital storage, with Dell's share of the market for servers, which businesses use for computing tasks.
----------
Boeing said it has acquired Peters Software, a provider of European Aviation Safety Agency or EASA-based training content for early stage pilot training. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Peters Software and its team of 20 full time employees joined Boeing upon contractual signing. Located in Cologne, Germany, Peters Software specializes in curriculum and materials for commercial and private pilots operating in rapidly growing markets aligned with EASA.
----------
Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
Assura
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
