Northgate Share News (NTG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London shares have seen a soft open Thursday, ahead of the key Federal Reserve announcement after the European close.

Deutsche Bank said future markets imply a probability of 30% that the Fed will start hiking US interest rates in the current meeting and a probability of around 60% for a rate hike by the end of the year.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,218.64
FTSE 250: down 0.3% at 17,019.16
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 737.51
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Hang Seng: down 0.7% at 21,813.48
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.4% at 18,432.27
DJIA: closed up 0.8% at 16,739.95
S&P 500: closed up 0.9% at 1,995.31
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GBP: up at USD1.5502
EUR: up at USD1.1299

GOLD: up at USD1,120.38 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD49.77 a barrel

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

08:30 Switzerland SNB interest rate decision and press conference
09:00 Italy Trade Balance
09:00 EU Economic Bulletin
09:30 UK Retail Sales
10:00 EU Construction Output
11:00 Ireland Gross Domestic Product
13:30 US Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims
13:30 US Building Permits and Housing Starts
13:30 US Current Account
15:00 US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage
19:00 US Fed Interest Rate Decision
19:30 US Fed Monetary Policy Statement and press conference
20:00 US FOMC Economic Projections
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The Federal Reserve has been hinting since last year at higher interest rates, but even recent meetings of the US central bank's policy-setters held little suspense - but Thursday is different. Wall Street's clear expectation was for monetary policy to be tightened in September or October, until last month's Chinese stock panic and the stronger dollar wrought havoc on financial markets. The Fed, which monitors economic data especially employment and inflation to calibrate its monetary policy, has held interest rates at an unprecedented near-zero range since December 2008.
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EU member states pledged manpower and equipment to take action against migrant smugglers operating in the Mediterranean Sea, the head of the EUNAVFOR Med naval mission announced. The EU is struggling with the biggest influx of migrants since the end of World War II, with many fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria. One key route to Europe has been the Mediterranean Sea crossing from northern Libya. More than 120,000 people have reached Italy by sea this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, while some 2,620 have died since January in attempted crossings.
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Washington is considering an offer from Moscow of US-Russia talks at the military level to discuss the conflict in Syria and the growing Russian role there. "We are currently evaluating," said US Secretary of State John Kerry. "The White House, the Defence Department, the State Department are discussing the next steps in order to determine the best way forward in order to have a clarity about this road ahead." Western countries are concerned about Russian military aid and possible Russian forces in combat in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Moscow ally.
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Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah returned from exile to the southern city of Aden and pledged to rebuild the country devastated by a war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. "My government will work with all its strength to establish a country where security and stability prevail," he wrote on Facebook. "Relief efforts [for those displaced by the war] and reconstruction top the government's priorities to bring life back to normal." Bahah and his government have been in neighbouring Saudi Arabia since Houthi rebels advanced in March on the port city.
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Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of JPY569.659 billion in August, the Ministry of Finance said. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of JPY542.5 billion following the JPY268.4 billion deficit in July. Exports gained 3.1% on year, shy of forecasts for an increase of 4.4% and down from the 7.6% jump in the previous month. Imports dipped an annual 3.1% versus expectations for a fall of 2.5% following the 3.2% contraction a month earlier.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES SERCO TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 100 PENCE
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DEUTSCHE BANK RAISES OCADO TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 330 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission raised concerns about the proposed takeover of BG Group by Royal Dutch Shell, throwing a spanner into the works of the USD47 billion deal between the two blue-chip oil and gas companies. Rod Sims, the chairman of the Australian competition authority, said the body is concerned that, by aligning Shell's interest in Arrow Energy with BG's Queensland-based liquefied natural gas facilities, the proposed acquisition of BG "may change Shell’s incentives such that it will prioritise supply to BG’s LNG facilities over competing gas users".
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Merlin Entertainments reported growth in revenue in the first 36 weeks of 2015 as a good performance by Midway Attractions and LEGOLAND Parks offset a decline at Resort Theme Parks after the rollercoaster accident in June. The theme park and attractions operator said that group revenue in the 36 weeks ended September 5 grew by 2.2%, or 0.3% on a like-for-like basis. Of this, Midway Attractions registered revenue growth of 6.5% and LEGOLAND Parks saw a 9.2% rise, but Resort Theme Parks suffered a 13.2% decline in revenue following the accident at Alton Towers in June in which a rollercoaster crash left several riders seriously injured.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Premier Farnell, which is set to drop out of the FTSE 250, said it has rebased its dividend, slashing its interim payout by 41%, as it reported a fall in pretax profit for its first half, and said it will sell its Akron Brass business as part of an ongoing operational review. The company began an operational review in July after it issued a profit warning, and as part of this review said Thursday it will sell Akron Brass and cease direct operations in Brazil due to sub-optimal returns and high costs of operations.
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Construction, property and services company Kier Group said its pretax profit more than doubled for the year to the end of June as it booked fewer one-off costs, while revenue was pushed higher by organic growth and its order book surged after the acquisition of Mouchel. The FTSE 250-listed company, which primarily focuses on the civil building and engineering sectors, said its pretax profit for the year to the end of June was GBP39.5 million, up from GBP15.4 million a year earlier, as one-off charges booked fell to GBP31.6 million from GBP42.2 million and it posted higher revenue.
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Actuator and flow control products manufacturer Rotork said project delays and cancellations are set to push its revenue lower for the full year 2015 and will leave its adjusted operating profit falling short of its 2014 numbers. The company, which has been hit hard in recent months due to its exposure to the struggling oil and gas industry, said that while it has seen an encouraging amount of quote activity and though it has a strong pipeline in place, the timing of orders and product deliveries remains tough to forecast. A number of orders the group had expected to book in the third quarter have been delayed and are now anticipated to be made in 2016, hitting its results for the full year.
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Phoenix Group Holdings confirmed a press report that it has entered into talks to acquire rival Guardian Financial Services. The closed life funds consolidator said it has been evaluating a bid for Guardian as part of its strategy to run the rule over the potential acquisition opportunities in its markets, as flagged in its interim results in August. It said it is holding non-exclusive talks about a bid for Guardian, confirming a report in Sky News which said was talking to Guardian's private equity owner, Cinven, about a bid. The Sky report said the deal would be worth around GBP1 billion.
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Vehicle hire company Northgate said it is trading in line with expectations so far in its current financial year to March 2016. Northgate Chairman Bob Mackenzie, in a brief statement due to be made at the company's annual general meeting, said trading was in line with the company's expectations and said it is making progress on its strategic plans.
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Just Retirement Group said its retirement product sales were broadly flat in its recently ended financial year, as sales of defined-benefit de-risking products sales surged higher and helped to offset a decline in guaranteed income and care plan sales, which were hit hard by recent legislative changes made by the UK government. In August, Just Retirement agreed a GBP1.66 billion merger agreement with rival Partnership Assurance Group, a deal viewed as an attempt by the two to create a stronger competitor in the defined-benefit de-risking and UK retirement income markets. Just Retirement said Thursday its focus is now on getting this deal done and said the deal will deliver at least GBP40 million in annual cost synergies by 2018.
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Molten flow engineering company Vesuvius said it has appointed Guy Young as its new chief financial officer and as an executive director, effective from November 1. Young replaces Chris O'Shea, who is leaving the company to become the financial director of FTSE 100 engineer Smiths Group.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Crawshaw Group said like-for-like sales grew strongly in its most recent financial quarter and that it now expects to exceed market expectations for the full year. The fresh meat and food-to-go retailer said that like-for-like sales growth was achieved across the entire estate following various initiatives undertaken by new management, and that it also strengthened its gross margin.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Altice and Cablevision Systems announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Altice to acquire Cablevision. Altice will deliver USD34.90 in cash for each Cablevision share. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2016. The acquisition represents an enterprise value of USD17.7 billion. Cablevision is a leading operator in the New York metropolitan area.
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Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor said that it has bought back the 19.9% stake held in the company by Volkswagen for a total of JPY460.28 billion, or USD3.82 billion. The stake buyback ends the partnership between the two companies that soured soon after it was formed in 2009. Japan's fourth-largest automaker Suzuki said it acquired all the 111.6 million shares held by Volkswagen in the company. Following the transaction, Volkswagen will cease to be Suzuki's largest shareholder.
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General Motor is expected to reach a criminal settlement with the US Justice Department as soon as Thursday, over the company's handling of an ignition flaw linked to more than 100 deaths, according to several reports. Quoting the people familiar with the matter, the reports said that the deal between GM and federal prosecutors in New York is expected to charge the auto maker with criminal wire fraud for allegedly making misleading statements and concealing information about the faulty switch, and to include a financial penalty of roughly USD900 million. But, the deal is unlikely to include charges against individual GM employees.
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Oracle said its first quarter profit fell 20% from last year, hurt significantly by a stronger US dollar. However, the company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in above analysts' expectations, but its quarterly revenue fell short of analysts' forecast.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Poundland
Accsys Technology
600 Group
Marechale Capital
Safeland
Northgate
Colefax Group
Auto Trader Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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