Next Share News (NXT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in ITV were giving back Monday's gains early Tuesday, following a report in US entertainment trade magazine Variety that US media giant Comcast has rejected a UK press report that it is considering a GBP11.0 billion bid for the British broadcaster.

"We don't comment on M&A rumors but the speculation on ITV is just completely inaccurate," spokesman John Demming told Variety.

The Mail on Sunday had reported that talks had been held between ITV and Comcast’s TV and film arm NBCUniversal, sending shares in ITV up on Monday.

ITV shares were down 0.9%, just behind Marks & Spencer, down 1.3% after a price target cut by Nomura. Next, down 0.7%, also had its price target cut by the broker, which cited clothing sales data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,073.22
FTSE 250: up 0.4% at 17,145.84
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 724.79
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Hang Seng: closed up 0.2% at 21,830.02
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.2% at 18,886.70
DJIA: closed up 0.7% at 17,251.62
S&P 500: closed up 0.8% at 2,021.15
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GBP: firm at USD1.4896 (USD1.4882)
EUR: flat at USD1.0916 (USD1.0924)

GOLD: soft at USD1,078.32 per ounce (USD1,079.20)
OIL (Brent): up at USD36.60 a barrel (USD36.18)

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

09:00 Italy Trade Balance
09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
13:30 US Gross Domestic Product and GDP Price Index
13:30 US Personal Consumption Expenditures Prices
13:55 US Redbook index
14:00 US Housing Price Index
15:00 US Existing Home Sales
15:00 US Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index
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Consumer confidence in the UK was up slightly in December, the latest survey from GfK revealed, with an index score of +2. That beat forecasts for +1, which would have been unchanged from the November reading. "This is the first time since the Consumer Confidence Barometer started in 1974 that the Index has remained positive for an entire calendar year," said GfK Head of Market Dynamics Joe Staton. But the score for outlook remained weak at -6.
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A leading indicator of economic activity in China increased again in November, the results of a survey by the Conference Board showed. The Conference Board leading economic indicator for China climbed 0.6% in November, following a 0.3% rise in the previous month. The coincident economic indicator that measures the current economic activity also went up 0.6% in November, but slower than October's 2.2% spike.
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Germany's consumer confidence is set to improve slightly at the start of the next after four consecutive declines, boosted by stronger economic and income expectations as well as an extremely high propensity to buy, survey data from the GfK showed. The forward-looking GfK consumer confidence index rose to 9.4 points, while economists had expected it to remain at December's 9.3 level.
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Germany's import prices declined at a slower-than-expected pace in November, figures from Destatis showed. The import price index dropped 3.5% year-over-year in November, following 4.1% decrease in the prior month. Economists had expected a 3.7% fall for the month. The measure has been falling since January 2013. The annual decline in November was largely caused by a 28.5% slump in energy prices. Excluding energy, import prices were 0.5% higher than in November 2014.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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RBC CAPITAL CUTS CENTRICA PRICE TARGET TO 260 (280) PENCE - 'OUTPERFORM'
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NOMURA CUTS NEXT PRICE TARGET TO 7,850 (8,000) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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NOMURA CUTS MARKS & SPENCER PRICE TARGET TO 565 (600) PENCE - 'BUY'
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GOLDMAN CUTS HAYS PRICE TARGET TO 201 (210) PENCE - 'BUY'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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BHP Billiton said there will be an external investigation into what caused the deadly collapse of a tailings dam in Brazil, as the total death toll rose to 17 from the previous estimate of 13, with two people still unaccounted for. BHP and partner Brazilian miner Vale have asked New York-based law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton to conduct the external investigation into the cause of the breach of the Fundão tailings dam and the Santarém water dam. BHP said the findings of the investigation will be released publicly.
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BT Group has lost a court case to hold onto a GBP160.0 million public sector contract in Cornwall, the Times reported, after a judge ruled that the local authority could back out of the deal. The 10-year contract involved the transfer of 300 staff to BT, the newspaper said. It was meant to save about GBP18.0 million during the life of the deal and create hundreds of new jobs while protecting existing jobs in Truro. BT would have taken over back-office roles.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Hansteen Holdings said it has acquired a further 31.6 million units in the Ashtenne Industrial Fund from Britel Fund Trustees Ltd for GBP15.4 million in cash, equivalent to 0.4869 pence per unit. The price represents an effective 5.0% discount to Hansteen's carrying value for the fund as recorded on June 30. The acquisition represents 5.3% of the units and increases Hansteen's holding in AIF to 81.8%.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Cape said its SOCAR Cape joint venture has been awarded a two-year contract extension by BP for work in Azerbaijan. The extension was awarded by BP for the provision of fabric maintenance services at BP's onshore and offshore assets in Azerbaijan. The contract has an estimated value of over USD90 million. Cape also noted this week's 48% devaluation of the Azerbaijan currency, the new manat. "It is too early to determine the effect of this devaluation on the Azerbaijan economy," the company said.
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Koovs reported a widened pretax loss in the first half of its financial year as it works to build up its business, but revenue rose as the number of customers increased. The Indian online fashion retailer said it made a pretax loss of GBP5.7 million in the six months ended September 30, wider than the GBP3.6 million loss it made in the same period the year before, as it continues to invest in the company. Revenue jumped to GBP2.0 million from GBP0.8 million, however, as website traffic increased to 16.4 million visits from 7.2 million visits, and the number of active customers rose to 182,000 from 56,800.
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Infinity Energy said it is no longer in talks to acquire 50% interests in nine UK petroleum exploration and development licenses in South Wales, meaning its shares are set to resume trading following a period of suspension due to the potential reverse takeover. The company had been in talks with Eden Energy, with its shares suspended on October 15 under stock exchange rules relating to reverse takeovers.
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RapidCloud International said profit and revenue in 2015 will miss market expectations due to issues in its markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, as well as due to investments it has made throughout the year. RapidCloud now expects revenue in 2015 to be at a similar level to that achieved in 2014, and this combined with costs associated with investments the company has made during the year mean that profit also will be materially lower than both market expectations and the level of profit made last year.
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Stratex International said it has sold its 1.0% net smelter return royalty for the Öksüt gold project in Turkey for USD4.5 million. The exploration and development company said it sold the interest to former joint-venture partner Centerra Gold.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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French grocery retailer Carrefour announced an agreement to acquire Billa Romania from the Rewe group. Spread over the entire Romanian territory, the 86 supermarkets of Billa Romania have a total sales area of 83,000 square meters.
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The US Navy said that Lockheed Martin Corp, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co, Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a USD1.17 billion advance acquisition contract for the advance procurement of long-lead-time materials, parts, components and effort to maintain the planned production schedule for F-35 low rate initial production lot 11 aircraft.
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Fast food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill is once again in the news, for another E coli outbreak that has affected a total of five people in the three states of Kansas, North Dakota and Oklahoma. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention or CDC, it is investigation a recent outbreak of a different, rare DNA fingerprint of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 or STEC O26, linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill. The CDC said that the latest E. coli outbreak has made five people ill - three people in Oklahoma, and one each in Kansas and North Dakota. The illnesses started on dates between November 18 and November 26, 2015, and all five have reported eating at a Chipotle Mexican Grill in the week before their illness started.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Upland Resources
GoldStone Resources
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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