Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened flat to slightly down Wednesday, despite a record close in the US and strong UK house price data.

Goldman Sachs has added Go-Ahead Group to its Conviction Buy List with a price target of 2,310 pence. The bus and train company is up 0.8% at 1,958.00p at the open Wednesday.

Meanwhile, rival FirstGroup PLC said its operating profit in its last financial year was in line with expectations, excluding a GBP14 million hit on its First Student and Greyhound bus operations from the severe winter weather in the US. FirstGroup shares were down 1.9%.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 6,643.21
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 16,383.68
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 850.47
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Hang Seng: up 0.3% at 22,521.32
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.0% at 14,946.32
DJIA: closed up 0.5% at 16,532.61
S&P 500: closed up 0.7% at 1,885.52
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6635
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3804

GOLD: up at USD1,283.80 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD105.65 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

09:30 UK PMI Construction
10:00 EU Gross Domestic Product
10:00 EU Producer Price Index
n/a UK 30-y Bond Auction
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
13:15 US ADP Employment Change
14:45 US ISM New York index
n/a EU EcoFin Meeting
15:00 US Factory Orders (MoM)
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
21:00 US Fed's Bullard speech
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UK house prices increased at the fastest pace since May 2010, data from Nationwide Building Society showed. House prices advanced 9.5% in March from last year, following a 9.4% rise in February. The annual growth was the biggest since May 2010, when prices rose 9.8%. Prices were forecast to rise by 9.7%. On a monthly basis, house prices gained 0.4%, which was slower than the 0.7% increase posted in February and 0.8% growth forecast by economists.
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Fears faded of a destructive tsunami on the western seaboard of South America, after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck about 100 kilometres off northern Chile. The Chilean navy said a 2-metre wave had reached the northern coast about 45 minutes after the quake. The tsunami alert had been lifted across much of the country by 0500 GMT, Chilean daily La Tercera reported. Landslides cut roads and there were reports of infrastructure damage, after authorities in Santiago issued an evacuation order for the whole coastline.
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NATO is suspending all cooperation with Russia on civilian and military matters, the alliance's foreign ministers said Tuesday, raising also the possibility of deployments as part of their response to the Ukrainian crisis. "NATO's greatest responsibility is to protect and defend our territory and our people," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after the ministers' talks. "Russia's aggression against Ukraine is the gravest threat to European security in a generation."
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President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he will press for Palestinian recognition at 15 United Nations bodies, a measure likely to jeopardize US efforts to save the faltering peace talks with Israel. The move comes after Palestinian outrage over Israel's refusal to release a fourth and final group of 26 Palestinian prisoners by a Saturday deadline.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN CUTS SHANKS GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 122 (145) PENCE
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GOLDMAN ADDS GO-AHEAD GROUP TO 'CONVICTION BUY LIST' ('BUY') - TARGET 2310 P.
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN RESUMES STANDARD LIFE WITH 'OVERWEIGHT'
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES IP GROUP TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES IG GROUP TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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SOCGEN STARTS LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE WITH 'HOLD' - PRICE TARGET 2160 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Tullow Oil PLC said it intends to offer USD500 million worth of senior notes that will be due in 2022 to raise funds to repay certain other existing debts. In a statement, the company said the interest rate, offer price and other terms on the notes will be determined when the offer is priced, but interest will be paid semi-annually and the notes will be guaranteed by some of its subsidiaries.
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Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said the company expects global growth in demand for both energy and metallurgical coal over the coming decades, with productivity key to generating acceptable returns. While discussing the global outlook for coal at CEDA's Energy and Resources series in Brisbane, President of BHP Billiton's global Coal business, Dean Dalla Valle, outlined the importance of productivity and a high-performing culture to ensure a long-term sustainable coal export industry in Australia.
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GlaxoSmithKline PLC said it had chosen to stop the Phase III trial of its MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapeutic in non-small cell lung cancer patients, as it said it would not be possible to identify a sub-population of MAGE-A3 positive patients with a specific gene signature that might benefit from the treatment. The trial of the immunotherapeutic missed its first and second co-primary endpoints, Glaxo said on March 20, as it did not significantly extend disease free survival compared to a placebo in either MAGE-A3 positive patients, or MAGE-A3 patients who did not receive chemotherapy.
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British retailer Marks and Spencer Group PLC is planning to open 250 more shops outside the UK over the next three years, as part of its global expansion plans, according to The Times. M&S is said to be breaking into the French market with 20 food-only stores in Paris, The Times reported, which the retailer hopes will echo the success of its food business in the UK, which continues to outperform its lagging general merchandise arm.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Bus and rail company FirstGroup PLC said its operating profit in its last financial year was in line with expectations, excluding a GBP14 million hit on its First Student and Greyhound bus operations from the severe winter weather in the US. In a trading update for the financial year to the end of March, the company said US dollar revenue is expected to be down 1.8% on the year at First Student and down 2.9% at Greyhound due to the severe winter weather that regularly swept across the US between December and March.
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Wood Group Secures Contract Extension With Esso Australia
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Hikma Pharmaceuticals Says All Issues Raised By US FDA In February Resolved
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Workspace Secures Planning Permission For Mixed Use Scheme Development In Wandsworth
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Restaurant Group Names Danny Breithaupt As Chief Executive Officer; Breithaupt Is Current MD Of Its Leisure Business; To Join Board And Take New Position On September 1
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Domino's Pizza Says Sales Up 15% To GBP188.5M In Quarter To March 30; Says UK Like-For-Like Sales Up 11% In Quarter, Like-For-Like Sales In Ireland Up 3.4%; Says Germany Like-For-Like Sales "Subdued"; On Course To Break Even In Switerland By End 2012, Start 2015

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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Coms Says Redstone Has Won New Contracts Ensuring GBP1.5M Of Revenue; Wins New Contracts Worth Further GBP449,000
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Optare Wins GBP3.5M Order For 13 Versa Hybrid Buses With Transport For Greater Manchester
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Plus500 Q1 Revenue USD60.7M, Tripling From USD20.0M In Q1 2013; Q1 New Customers 20,124, Vs 12,356 In Q1 2013; Active Customers 50,438 Vs 34,127; Q1 Average Revenue Per User USD1,204 Vs USD580; Average User Acquisition Cost USD576 Vs USD758; Reaffirms Commitment To Progressive Dividend Policy; Expects To Exceed Current Market Expectations For Revenue And Profit In 2014
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Fastjet Confirms easyGroup Holdings Party To Financing Talks
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600 Group Says H2 Revenues Ahead Of H1; Expects Full Year Results In Line With Its Forecasts
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COMPANIES - OTHER
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Exova, an Edinbugh-based materials and structures testing and inspection company, plans to raise GBP110 million by floating on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, the Financial Times reported. Exova will price its shares at 210p to 260p, the newspaper said, giving it a market capitalisation of between GBP525 million and GBP650 million. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Barclays PLC and Rothschild are leading the initial public offering.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Domino's Pizza Group
RCM Technology Trust
Jupiter Second Split Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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