Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Central bankers and oil ministers are likely to dominate market attention Thursday, amid a light diary of company reporting and economic data.

Conspiracy theorists can have a field day, as both the ECB and OPEC hold meetings in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The European Central Bank's interest rate decision is announced at 1245 GMT, followed by President Mario Draghi's press conference at 1330 GMT. The ECB is not expected to make any changes to its policy stance, having made broad adjustments in March.

Meanwhile, starting at 1335 GMT, US Federal Open Market Committee member Jerome Powell gives a keynote speech at the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association's Prudential Regulation Conference in Washington DC.

This is followed by a speech at 1400 GMT by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, birthplace of Winston Churchill, for the launch of the new polymer GBP5 note bearing the wartime prime minister's likeness.

There is an OPEC meeting in Vienna running throughout the day, and a press conference with the acting secretary general is expected at 1500 BST.

The FTSE 100 opened higher, led by platinum firm Johnson Matthey, up 2.5% after reporting annual results and lifting its dividend by 5%.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6,209.65
FTSE 250: flat at 17,068.00
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 738.11
----------
Hang Seng: up 0.4% at 20,833.60
Nikkei 225: closed down 2.3% at 16,562.55
DJIA: closed flat at 17,789.67
S&P 500: closed up 0.1% at 2,099.33
----------
GBP: up at USD1.4433 (USD1.4404)
EUR: up at USD1.1201 (USD1.1172)

GOLD: firm at USD1,217.02 per ounce (USD1,210.03)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD49.76 a barrel (USD49.62)

(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

OPEC meeting in Vienna
holiday Italy Republic Day

09:30 UK PMI construction
10:00 EU producer price index
12:30 US Challenger job cuts
12:45 EU ECB interest rate decision
13:15 US ADP employment
13:30 US initial and continuing jobless claims
13:30 EU ECB monetary policy statement and press conference
13:35 US FOMC member Powell speech
14:00 UK BOE Governor Carney speech
14:45 US ISM New York index
15:30 US EIA natural gas storage
16:00 US EIA crude oil stocks
----------
Unions have welcomed the return of the British Steel brand after the completion of the sale of part of Tata Steel. Greybull Capital has bought the Long Products business, securing thousands of jobs at a huge plant in Scunthorpe. The company is renaming the business British Steel. The Long Products business includes the Scunthorpe steelworks, two mills in Teesside, an engineering workshop in Workington, a design consultancy in York, and associated distribution facilities, as well as a rail mill in northern France. The business employs 4,800 people - 4,400 in the UK and 400 in France. Tata continues to assess bids for the rest of its UK business.
----------
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and his Labour predecessor Alistair Darling have joined forces to accuse leave-the-EU campaigners of "making it up as you go along". The political opposites, united in their support for the European Union, have published an open letter calling on the Brexit campaign to answer basic questions about its economic argument. They said the campaign was putting forward "uncosted and unworkable proposals" that would damage the country.
----------
Boris Johnson has insisted he is not setting out an alternative vision for government after outlining plans to introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system in the UK. Speaking on a visit to the clothing factory of the uniform supplier Simon Jersey in Accrington on the first day of a Vote Leave battle bus tour in Lancashire, Johnson rejected the idea he is making a pitch for a potential post-Brexit government. He said: "All we are saying is what any government could do and we are saying after we vote leave on June 23 it will be up to the government to take back control."
----------
The US economic recovery continued into the second quarter, albeit at a modest pace, according to the Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book. The Beige Book, which gathers anecdotal evidence about economic conditions across the Fed's 12 districts, offered a somewhat less optimistic assessment than many analysts were expecting. Weakness in the energy sector persisted despite a rally in oil prices, while manufacturing lagged. Auto sales were good, but there was only modest jobs and wage growth around the nation. The lackluster Beige Book raises some doubts about whether the Fed will raise interest rates in June.
----------
At least 20 people were killed when al-Shabaab militants bombed and then stormed a hotel in Mogadishu, medical and police officials said. A suicide car bomber hit the entrance of the Ambassador Hotel, which is popular with government officials and business people, shortly before 1500 GMT in the centre of the Somali capital. The blast destroyed the guarded entrance of the building and damaged several nearby shops, witnesses told dpa. More than 60 people were wounded, a Madina hospital official said. Two militants were among the dead. Two Somali lawmakers were slain, police officer Ali Hassan Kulmiye told dpa. Armed al-Shabaab fighters then stormed and laid siege to the hotel, said security official Mohamed Hassan. But security guards managed to kill one of the insurgents before he could enter the five-storey hotel, he said.
----------
Syrian Kurdish-led insurgents seized territory on Wednesday from Islamic State in northern Syria as they launched a US-backed offensive against the extremist militia, the second front opened against the jihadist group in a week. The Democratic Forces of Syria began the attack overnight on the Islamic State-controlled city of Minbij, less than 20 kilometres from the Turkish border, taking control over 20 villages and farms, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
----------
A long-awaited humanitarian aid convoy entered the Damascus suburb of Daraya, under siege from government forces since 2012, as an international deadline for the provision of relief to besieged areas of Syria expired. The International Committee of the Red Cross tweeted that the convoy had entered Daraya, almost three weeks after an earlier convoy was turned back by government forces.
----------
Chinese president Xi Jinping met with a senior North Korean official late Wednesday, a day after Pyongyang's failed missile launch. In the meeting with diplomat Ri Su Yong, Xi urged all sides to stay calm, exercise restraint and improve communication to safeguard regional peace, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The president said China is willing to work with Pyongyang to maintain and develop bilateral ties, Xinhua reported. Relations with Beijing, the isolated regime's only significant international ally, have cooled recently amid nuclear and missile tests in North Korea.
----------
Japan's consumer sentiment improved unexpectedly in May, survey results from the Cabinet Office showed. The consumer confidence index came in at 40.9 in May, up from 40.8 in April. It was forecast to fall to 40.1 in May.
----------
An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale rocked the western part of Sumatra island on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of damage, the geophysics agency said. The quake occurred at 5:56 am (2356 GMT Wednesday) with the epicentre 79 kilometres south-west of Pesisir Selatan district, at a depth of 72 kilometres, according to the Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency.
----------
A regional human rights watchdog voiced "concern" Wednesday about conditions in Venezuela, which is in crisis amid its collapsing economy and a political standoff between the socialist government and the opposition-led legislature. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body of the 35-country Organization of American States, noted the attempt last month by President Nicolas Maduro to issue a state of emergency decreeing special powers for himself and the military. Within days, the unicameral National Assembly rejected the decree, which was subsequently declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
----------
UBS CUTS MARKS & SPENCER PRICE TARGET TO 440 (490) PENCE - 'BUY'
----------
BERNSTEIN RAISES HISCOX PRICE TARGET TO 965 (825) PENCE - 'MARKET-PERFORM'
----------
GOLDMAN CUTS DAILY MAIL PRICE TARGET TO 628 (646) PENCE - 'SELL'
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
Johnson Matthey said profit dipped in its financial year to the end of March in challenging markets and as it restructured its operations, though the platinum and chemicals company expects a better performance in the current year. Pretax profit was GBP386.3 million, down from GBP495.8 million the year earlier, despite revenue rising to GBP10.71 billion from GBP10.06 billion. Johnson Matthey declared a final dividend of 52.0 pence, taking its total dividend payout up 5.0% year-on-year to 71.5p, as it said it anticipates a strong performance in the current financial year, in line with market expectations.
----------
AstraZeneca said it has agreed to licence Zurampic to Germany's Grunenthal in Europe and Latin America, a deal that could see the London-listed pharmaceutical firm receive up to USD230.0 million over the life of the contract. Zurampic was approved by the European Medicines Agency in February, in combination with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, for the adjunctive treatment of hyperuricemia, which is excess of uric acid in the blood, in adult patients with uncontrolled gout.
----------
GlaxoSmithKline said it has decided to bring forward the plan to file a new drug application in the US for its treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), following discussions with authorities and its partner. Glaxo and its partner, San Francisco-based Innoviva, plans to submit a new drug application covering the once-daily, closed triple combination therapy comprised of three molecules, fluticasone furoate, umeclidinium and vilanterol, which are inhaled by patients suffering from COPD. Glaxo said it will now submit that application at the end of 2016 rather than in the first half of 2018 as originally planned. Glaxo said it expects to submit an EU regulatory submission also by the end of 2016.
----------
The latest changes from the quarterly FTSE index review were announced after the market close on Wednesday. Generic-drug maker Hikma Pharmaceuticals retuned to the FTSE 100, having been relegated in March, and will replace Inmarsat, the satellite communications firm which joined the blue-chip index only a year ago. There were a number of changes in the FTSE 250, with Irish packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group and "challenger" banks CYBG, the owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, and Metro Bank amongst the companies moving into the index. The changes from the index review come into effect from the start of trading on Monday, June 20.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Anglo-South African financial services group Investec said it will raise funds through a placing to back a share buyback. Investec said it plans to raise up to around GBP145.0 million via the placing, which will be carried out through an accelerated bookbuild handled by bookrunner JPMorgan Cazenove. The funds raised will be used to fund a buyback of sterling and rand preference shares in the company, with any proceeds not directed to this used for general corporate purposes.
----------
Plastic packaging products company RPC Group reported higher pretax profit and much stronger revenue in its recent financial year, on the back of acquisitions, while improving its annual dividend. RPC said pretax profit for the year to the end of March was GBP75.6 million, up from GBP67.1 million a year earlier, as revenue grew 34% to GBP1.64 billion from GBP1.22 billion. RPC will pay a final dividend of 12.3 pence, taking its total payout to 17.1p, up 20% from the 14.3p paid a year earlier.
----------
Low-cost airlines Wizz Air Holdings and Ryanair Holdings both posted growth in the number of passengers carried and load factor in May. Central and Eastern-European focused Wizz Air said it carried 2 million passengers in May, which is a 22% increase on the 1.6 million carried in the same month a year before. Load factor also rose by 1.1 percentage points to 90.1% from 89%. Larger rival Ryanair, meanwhile, saw customer traffic grow by 12% in May to 10.6 million from 9.5 million the year before, as load factor increased by 2 percentage points to 92% from 94%.
----------
COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
----------
Nutrition group Glanbia said its largest shareholder Glanbia Co-operative Society Ltd will raise EUR100 million by issuing a five-year bond exchangeable against Glanbia shares it owns. Glanbia Co-operative intends to use the majority of the proceeds from the bonds for the creation of a "dynamic market volatility fund" for its milk and grain supplying members.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund has made an investment of USD3.5 billion in US-based ride-hailing company Uber, the company announced. The strategic partnership is part of the kindom's Vision 2030 plan to diversify its economy in order to reduce its dependency on oil revenue. Saudi Arabia recently announced a joint venture with US industrial giant General Electric. As part of the arrangement PIF head Yasir Al Rumayan will have a seat on Uber's board of directors. The San Francisco, California-based company is valued at USD62.5 billion.
----------
Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Independent News & Media
EKF Diagnostics Holdings
F&C Commercial Property Trust
Gama Aviation
Advanced Medical Solutions Group
Standard Life Investments Property Income
Shanta Gold
Camelia
Augean
International Public Partnerships
Ruspetro
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.