Nwf Share News (NWF)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have followed US and Asian markets higher Thursday.

Direct Line leads blue-chip gainers, up 2.9%, after promising a return to shareholders from the sale of its international division.

Shares in chipmaker CSR topped the FTSE 250 at the open after the group said the Takeover Panel has granted an extension to the deadline for Microchip Technology Inc to make bid for the company. The stock is up 6.4%.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6,725.15
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 15,590.30
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 755.18
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Hang Seng: down 0.5% at 23,809.52
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.3% at 16,374.14
DJIA: closed closed up 0.9% at 17,210.06
S&P 500: closed up 0.8% at 1,998.30
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6293
EUR-USD: down at USD1.2750

GOLD: down at USD1,208.90 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD96.66 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 British Summer Time)

09:00 Italy Retail Sales
09:00 Italy Wage Inflation
11:00 UK CBI Distributive Trades Survey
13:30 US Durable Goods Orders
13:30 US Jobless Claims
13:40 UK BOE's Governor Carney speech
14:45 US Markit Services and Composite PMI Preliminary
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
16:00 US Kansas Fed manufacturing activity
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Airstrikes carried out late Wednesday against Islamic State targets in Syria hit oil refineries that the US says provide a revenue stream for the militants, the Pentagon says. The oil refineries provide about USD2 million a day in revenue for the Islamic State, Rear Admiral John Kirby says. Kirby spoke after the raids ended and all aircraft returned safely. The US was joined by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirites in carrying out the strikes, Kirby says.
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US President Barack Obama called Wednesday for the global community to join the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. Obama also told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that the world should unite against pressing global challenges, including Russian aggression in Europe and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. But he stressed the greatest challenge to peace and prosperity was posed by Islamist extremism.
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China is debating whether to oust the head of its central bank due to disagreements over financial policy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The departure of People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan would be justified on the grounds of the 66-year-old's age, the report said, citing party officials. But disagreements over financial policy in the world's second-largest economy would be the real reason for his ouster, the report said. Zhou is pressing for market reforms including a liberalization of interest rates but the party leadership fears the impact on an economy whose growth has slowed recently.
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Corporate service prices in Japan were up 3.5% on year in August, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday. That was below forecasts for a gain of 3.7% following the downwardly revised 3.4% increase in July (originally 3.7%). On a monthly basis, prices eased 0.2% following the flat reading in July.
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US President Obama also vowed Wednesday to continue pursuing a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, even as he directly called on Israelis to continue striving for peace. "The violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace," he said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly. Veering from the text of his prepared speech, Obama added: "That's something worthy of reflection within Israel." Returning to his text, he continued: "Let's be clear: The status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable."
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERNSTEIN INITIATES ST JAMES'S PLACE WITH 'MARKET-PERFORM' - TARGET 740 PENCE
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BERNSTEIN INITIATES HARGREAVES LANSDOWN WITH 'UNDERPERFORM' - TARGET 745 PENCE
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TRADERS: NUMIS CUTS VESUVIUS TO 'HOLD' ('ADD')
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UBS RAISES AMEC TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 1215 (1100) PENCE
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TRADERS: SOCGEN RAISES DAIRY CREST GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('SELL')
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TRADERS: LIBERUM RAISES LONMIN TO 'HOLD' ('SELL')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Direct Line Insurance Group said it has agreed to sell its international division, which is comprised of its Italian and German operations, for EUR550.0 million to Mapfre SA, and said it expects to return substantially all of the net proceeds to shareholders. In a statement, Direct Line said it expects the sale to result in a pretax gain on disposal of about GBP160.0 million. It said further details of the capital return will be disclosed upon completion of the deal, but noted that its "strong capital position" was the reason it expects to make the return.
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GlaxoSmithKline confirmed that it will appoint Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC Chairman Philip Hampton as non-executive chairman from September 1, 2015, or at an earlier date if released from his other commitments. Hampton will succeed current Chairman Christopher Gent. He will initially join the board as a non-executive director at the start of 2015, and will take on the role of deputy chairman April 1, 2015.
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Hammerson said it will conduct a share placing to raise about GBP400 million to help fund the GBP180 million acquisition of the rest of the Highcross shopping centre in Leicester that it doesn't already own, a GBP100 million investment in a new outlet shopping centre venture, and GBP120 million to fund existing developments. In a statement, the retail-focused real estate investment trust said it will place 71.3 million new shares, which is 9.99% of its existing issued share capital.
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Sports Direct International said it has entered into a put option agreement to acquire a 0.28% stake in Tesco, a move that continues a record of the sports goods retailer or its founder Mike Ashley taking stakes, or options to buy stakes, in struggling retailers. Sports Direct said its maximum exposure under the put option is limited to around GBP43 million. The 0.28% stake represents a total of 23 million Tesco shares. "This investment reflects Sports Direct's growing relationship with Tesco and belief in Tesco's long-term future," the company said in a statement.
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Vodafone Group has admitted it will delay decisions on entering the home broadband and television market until BT Group PLC launches its consumer mobile offering, the Telegraph reported Wednesday. BT is looking to re-enter the consumer mobile market early next year, a move that is expected to significantly undercut rivals who offer package deals for households.
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BHP Billiton Wednesday said it is assessing a potential listing on the London Stock Exchange for the new company that will be created through a demerger of a number of its assets, following "extensive" discussions with shareholders. The mining giant confirmed in August that it will demerge its aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver assets into a new company, following press speculation. At the time the FTSE 100-listed company pledged to cut costs and improve the productivity of its remaining businesses in an attempt to boost shareholder returns. BHP Billiton said Wednesday that it is "now assessing a potential Standard listing in London for the new company," after it initially said that the new company would be listed in Australia and South Africa and would be wholly-owned by BHP Billiton's existing shareholders initially.
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BHP Billiton Ltd's Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie has earned a pay package of USD8 million in his first year at the company's helm, about half the amount his predecessor Marius Kloppers earned in his final year. BHP Billiton, which is grappling with falling commodity prices, has also put a freeze on the remuneration to be paid to Mackenzie and other members of the company's senior management team for fiscal 2015.
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A federal judge in New Orleans rejected Wednesday BP's request for recouping millions of dollars of overpayments made to some claimants under the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill settlement. The oil giant found that it ended up overpaying the victims of the oil spill after the court revised the method for calculating the damages. It claimed that the families and companies were reportedly allowed to inflate their losses by the administrator in charge of processing the claims. At a court hearing in New Orleans, US District Court Judge Carl Barbier earlier in the day heard out attorneys for BP and claimants before reaching the decision. BP will reportedly appeal the decision.
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Irish drug company Shire Wednesday reached a final agreement with the US Attorney's Offices for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Northern District of Illinois, all 50 states and the District of Columbia to resolve a previously disclosed civil investigation of its sales and marketing practices for a period ending in 2010 relating to ADDERALL XR, VYVANSE DAYTRANA, LIALDA and PENTASA. Under the agreement, Shire will pay USD56.5 million, and interest, fees, and costs, to resolve all issues investigated by the government.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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CSR shares topped the FTSE 250 at the open after the group said the Takeover Panel has granted an extension to the deadline for Microchip Technology Inc to make bid for the company. Shares in CSR were up 5.3% to 767 pence in early trade after the chipmaker said the deadline for the US semiconductor maker to make a bid for the company had been extended to October 15 in order to allow the two companies more time to conclude their discussions. CSR rejected a takeover bid from Microchip on August 28 as it felt the original bid was too low.
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3i Infrastructure said the level of income generated by its portfolio in the first six months of the year is in line with the comparable period last year. In a statement, 3i Infrastructure said its portfolio generated GBP31.0 million between April 1 and September 24, equal to the amount generated in the first six months of its last financial year.
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Cairn Energy said it has signed a deal to farm-out a 10% interest in the Catcher oil field and adjacent acreage in the UK North Sea in return for Dyas UK Ltd funding exploration and development costs up to a cap of USD182 million, cutting its own development bill for the field by about USD380 million.
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WS Atkins said it expects its performance in the first half to be in line with expectations, despite facing the company facing currency headwinds in the period and experiencing a mixed performance in the UK and Europe. The FTSE 250 design, engineering and project management consultancy said its performance in the first half to September 30 in the UK and Europe has proved mixed. It said that while it has seen high volumes in its rail business, the financial performance of this unit continues to be impacted by a number of outstanding variation negotiations.
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Micro Focus International said Deputy Chairman and non-Executive Senior Independent Director David Maloney has stepped down with immediate effect, in a statement ahead of its annual general meeting. The company said that, as it has continued to trade in line with guidance since its last update in August, it will provide no further trading update at the annual general meeting.
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UK pubs and restaurant operator Mitchells & Butlers said total sales in the 51 weeks of its financial year grew by 3.8%, helped by better food and drink sales, but said that after strong demand in July following the World Cup, trading conditions in August slumped. In a pre-close trading update, the company known for brands including Harvester, Toby Carvery and O'Neill's bar, said like-for-like sales in the 51 weeks to September 20 were up 0.6%, however it said growth in the nine weeks to September 20 was minimal, up only 0.1% as food sales grew by 0.1% and drink sales declined by 0.2%.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Clean Air Power saw its shares slide after it said it had to withdraw its US Genesis EDGE Dual-Fuel test engine from the testing process until it has sorted out issues that were found with the selective catalytic reduction after-treatment system on the base diesel engine. The developer of compression-ignited natural gas engine management systems for heavy-duty engines said in June that the engine had met all Environmental Protection Agency emission requirements in internal testing at its facilities in the UK. It was then shipped to Ricardo PLC's US unit for independent testing in preparation for an EPA certification application.
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Solo Oil Gets USD5M Debt Facility, Launches USD2.3M Placing; Closes GBP760,000 Placing At 0.95p Per Share; Conditional Placing Of GBP1.5M At 0.95p
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Surgical Innovations H1 Pretax Loss Of GBP3.2M Vs GBP567,000 Profit; Revenue Of GBP1.8M Vs GBP3.9M; Says H1 Hit By OEM Asset Write Downs, RGF Project
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Shares in Surface Transforms jumped in opening trade after the company said it has signed a pre-production contract for the supply of its carbon ceramic brake discs to a US military aircraft with an unnamed international aerospace system supplier. Surface said the contract will have a modest positive revenue impact in its 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years, with production sales due to start in the 2016-17 financial year, subject to final qualification and flight testing.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Apple Inc started selling its latest smartphone iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus just last Friday, however, user complaints have started pouring in that the new devices bend under pressure. Photos have appeared online showing bent iPhones. One user posted an image of a bent iPhone 6 Plus, describing that the device was bent near the volume buttons after about 18 hours in his pocket. The new iPhones feature thinner and larger aluminum body, but appear to bend under any kind of pressure.
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Apple also confirmed the withdrawal of an update to the newest iPhone operating system on Wednesday only a few hours after its release, news reports said. "We are actively investigating these reports and will provide information as quickly as we can. In the meantime we have pulled back the iOS 8.0.1 update," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement quoted by multiple media outlets. The update, iOS 8.0.1, was supposed to fix software problems with the new operating system released last week. Users complained that after they downloaded the update they were unable to make phone calls and had problems with a fingerprint sensor used to unlock their phones.
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Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corp is likely to take a stake of slightly less than 50% in Spanish autoparts maker Ficosa International for JPY20 billion to JPY30 billion, or USD182 million to USD273 million, the Nikkei business daily reported Wednesday. According to the Nikkei report, Panasonic plans joint development of self-driving car technologies through the acquisition of Ficosa. This will mark Panasonic's first big acquisition in the automotive sector and is expected to be completed by March 2015.
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French aerospace company Airbus Group Wednesday projected the global jetliner market at USD4.6 trillion in the next two decades. The company also is ramping up production on the back of strong orders. The company said plane makers will combine to deliver 31,400 passenger jets that seat more than 100 passengers as well as freighters through 2033. The global airliner fleet, excluding smaller planes, will reach 37,500 jets from 18,500 now in service.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

AdEPT Telecom
Camco Clean Energy
Ryanair Holdings
Coal of Africa
Alcentra European Floating Rate Income
Phoenix IT Group
Micro Focus International
AcenciA Debt Strategies Limited
Penna Consulting
The Real Good Food Company
Fiske
NWF Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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