Next Share News (NXT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Dovish remarks by US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave equities and gold a lift early Wednesday, while depressing the dollar. Yellen's remarks late Tuesday seemed to take a US interest rate hike at the Fed's April meeting off the table.

With no news from large caps, an increased takeover offer for Premier Foods dominated early attention. The US's McCormick & Co bid 65.00 pence per share, up from 60p previously, valuing the equity of the maker of Mr Kipling cakes at GBP536.7 million. The stock was up 8.0% at 61.00p early Wednesday.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 1.1% at 6,172.98
FTSE 250: up 0.9% at 16,899.73
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 709.95
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Hang Seng: up 1.7% at 20,710.95
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.3% at 16,878.96
DJIA: closed up 0.6% at 17,633.11
S&P 500: closed up 0.9% at 2,055.01
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GBP: up at USD1.4418 (USD1.4271)
EUR: up at USD1.1303 (USD1.1189)

GOLD: up at USD1,237.78 per ounce (USD1,225.74)
OIL (Brent): up at USD39.38 a barrel (USD38.84)

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

10:00 EU consumer confidence, economic sentiment indicator
11:00 Ireland retail sales
12:00 US MBA mortgage applications
13:00 Germany consumer price index preliminary
13:15 US ADP employment change
15:30 US EIA crude oil stocks
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Fed Chair Yellen's speech to the Economic Club of New York was seen as dovish for US interest rates. Yellen said she considers it appropriate for the Fed to proceed cautiously in adjusting monetary policy given the risks to the economic outlook. The Fed chief said the caution is especially warranted because the central bank's ability to use conventional monetary policy to respond to economic disturbances is asymmetric with rates still at such low levels. "If economic conditions were to strengthen considerably more than currently expected, the FOMC could readily raise its target range for the federal funds rate to stabilize the economy," Yellen said. "By contrast, if the expansion was to falter or if inflation was to remain stubbornly low, the FOMC would be able to provide only a modest degree of additional stimulus by cutting the federal funds rate back to near zero." Yellen also repeatedly reiterated her stance that only gradual increases in interest rates are likely to be warranted in coming years. The speech largely offset recent speculation that the Fed will raise interest rates at its next meeting toward the end of April.
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President Dilma Rousseff's main coalition partner abandoned the government, bringing Brazil's political crisis to a boil and making her impeachment before a parliamentary committee all but certain, Brazilian media reported. The centrist Brazilian Party for Democratic Movement, which had governed with the ruling Workers' Party since 2003, quit the coalition just three minutes into a party meeting, saying it would withdraw its six remaining ministers from the government. The seventh, tourism minister Henrique Alves, resigned Monday.
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Egyptian authorities defended their security measures as the passengers from an EgyptAir jet returned home after being diverted to Cyprus by a hijacker wearing a dummy explosive belt. The Egyptian Interior Ministry issued video of the alleged hijacker, identified as Seif al-Din Mustafa, 57, passing through security checks at Alexandria's Borg al-Arab airport prior to boarding the Tuesday morning flight to Cairo. Mustafa and his carry-on baggage had both been subject to full security checks, but he later assembled the fake bomb from permitted personal belongings in the bag, the ministry said. Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kassoulidis earlier said the hijacker had connected several mobile phone covers with cables, which he passed off as an explosive belt.
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Industrial production in Japan fell a seasonally adjusted 6.2% on month in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary reading - marking the largest single-month decline in five years. The headline figure missed expectations for a decline of 5.9% following the 3.7% increase in January. On a yearly basis, industrial production fell 1.5% - beating forecasts for a decline of 1.7% following the 3.8% contraction in the previous month.
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Economic growth in Asia will slow down in the next two years amid a weak recovery in major industrial economies and lower prospects for China, the Asian Development Bank said. In its annual Asian Development Outlook report, the Manila-based bank said gross domestic product for the region was projected to expand by 5.7% in 2016 and 2017, down from 5.9% in 2015. "China's growth moderation and uneven global recovery are weighing down overall growth in Asia," said Shang-Jin Wei, ADB's chief economist. Growth in China will moderate to 6.5% in 2016 and 6.3% in 2017, down from 6.9% in 2015, the report said. India will remain one of the fastest-growing economies in the next two years, with its GDP projected to hit 7.4% in 2016 and further pick up to 7.8% in 2017.
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Ebola no longer constitutes a global health emergency, but a high level of vigilance must be maintained in West African countries to prevent and control new outbreaks, the World Health Organization said Tuesday in Geneva. The UN health agency had imposed its highest alert level in August 2014 as the virus ravaged in West Africa. The outbreak started in Guinea in late 2013 and spread mainly to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone. More than 11,300 people have died in the outbreak.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP RAISES GLAXOSMITHKLINE TO 'BUY' (NEUTRAL)
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MACQUARIE INITIATES AVIVA WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 502 PENCE
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BERENBERG RAISES INMARSAT TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 890 (900) PENCE
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS MARKS & SPENCER TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES NEXT PLC TO 'HOLD' ('UNDERPERFORM')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS POUNDLAND GROUP TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS DEBENHAMS TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS DUNELM GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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NOMURA INITIATES SPIRE HEALTHCARE WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 405 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Ceramic materials maker Morgan Advanced Materials said it has appointed Peter Turner as its chief financial officer, effective from April 11. Turner is the former finance director of engineer Smiths Group, having left that role in 2015. He takes over from Kevin Dangerfield, who left the company last week.
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Saga said it has signed a quota share agreement for motor policies underwritten by its AICL unit. Saga said the quota share deal with NewRe, a subsidiary of German reinsurer Munich Re, will cover 75% of the risk of motor policies underwritten by AICL since February 1. The initial agreement is for three years, with the option to extend for another three years. Saga said the deal will significantly reduce its underwriting risk and will lead to a phased withdrawal of capital from its underwriter.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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US spices and flavourings group McCormick & Co made an increased bid for Premier Foods and called on the company to engage with it over the offer. McCormick offered 65.00 pence per share, up from 60p previously and valuing Premier Foods at GBP536.7 million. The stock closed Tuesday in London at 56.50p for a GBP476.0 million market capitalisation. The new offer comes after Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling cakes and Bisto gravy, had rejected two previous bids from McCormick ahead of a key shareholder, Warburg Pincus, selling a 17% stake to Japanese noodle maker Nissin Foods Co Ltd instead.
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Nostrum Oil & Gas said its pretax profit dropped by almost 77% in 2015 following a steep decline in revenue, driven by a fall in production and lower oil prices. The company, which operates in Kazakhstan, said its pretax profit dropped to USD72.3 million in 2015 from the USD311.7 million profit booked in 2014 as its revenue fell 43% to USD448.9 million from USD781.9 million due to the fall in oil prices.
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Womenswear retailer Bonmarche Holdings said it has appointed Helen Connolly as its chief executive officer. Connolly, who will take up the role later in 2016, joins from her role as senior buying director for the George clothing brand at Asda, the supermarket chain owned by US giant Wal-Mart Stores. Connolly will replace Beth Butterwick, who Bonmarche said in December would leave after four years at the helm to head up rival fashion retailer Karen Millen instead.
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Hornby said lender Barclays Bank has agreed to waive the covenant tests on the hobby products company for March. Hornby, the model railways and toy cars retailer, said in February there was a risk the company could breach its lending covenants in March. Barclays has now waived those covenant tests. Hornby added that trading remains in line with its expectations, with sales in the half to the end of March down 2.0% year-on-year.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Indian steel giant Tata has confirmed plans to sell its UK assets, threatening thousands of job cuts in Britain. Unions reacted with shock and anger at the company's decision, taken at a board meeting in Mumbai. In a statement issued in Mumbai, Tata said it noted with "deep concern" the deteriorating financial performance of its UK subsidiary in the last year. Tata said it had booked asset impairment charges of more than GBP2 billion in the last five years related to the UK business.
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The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen, alleging that the German auto maker deceived customers by falsely advertising its diesel vehicles as environmentally friendly. In a complaint filed in federal court, the FTC alleges that during this seven-year period Volkswagen deceived consumers by selling or leasing more than 550,000 diesel cars based on false claims that the cars were low-emission, environmentally friendly, met emissions standards and would maintain a high resale value.
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French speed-train maker Alstom unveiled its strategy and objectives for 2020. It projects adjusted EBIT margin should reach around 7% by 2020 driven by volume, portfolio mix and results of operational excellence actions. By 2020 sales should grow organically by 5% per year. It expects about 100% conversion from net income into free cash flow by 2020. By 2020, signalling, systems and services should represent 60% of Alstom's sales.
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General Electric Co said that it reached an agreement to sell GE Capital's Franchise Finance US hotel business to Western Alliance Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorp. The sale includes about USD1.4 billion in ending net investment and the majority of the hotel business employees. The business provides real estate financing to owners of limited service hotel properties.
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Google Fiber is introducing a home phone service, Fiber Phone. For USD10/month, the customers get unlimited local and nationwide calling, and the same rates as Google Voice for international calls, the company said on its blog.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Milestone Group
Stanley Gibbons Group (EGM re fundraising)
Sula Iron & Gold
Aukett Swanke Group
Temple Bar Investment Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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