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LONDON (Alliance News) - The deteriorating situation in Iraq has depressed shares early Friday, as the UK market also contemplates a sooner-than-expected rise in interest rates by the Bank of England.

SSE, Tullow Oil and BG Group lead FTSE 100 gainers. BG was the blue-chip index's top gainer on Thursday, benefiting from a rising oil price. Tullow Oil announced Friday a refinancing of its Norwegian exploration loan facility.

Meanwhile, Petra Diamonds leads FTSE 250 risers, after it said it has recovered a 122.52 carat blue diamond in South Africa.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.3% at 6,820.87
FTSE 250: down 0.8% at 16,005.77
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.5% at 791.21
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Hang Seng: up 0.6% at 23,309.18
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.8% at 15,097.84
DJIA: closed down 0.7% at 16,734.19
S&P 500: closed down 0.7% at 1,930.11
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6975
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3570

GOLD: up at USD1,273.56 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD113.48 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times British Summer Time)

09:00 Italy Consumer Price Index
10:00 UK CB Leading Economic Index
10:00 EU Employment Change
10:00 EU Trade Balance
13:30 Canada Manufacturing Shipments
13:30 US Producer Price Index
14:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Preliminary
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The pound gained ground against its key counterparts in Asian deals after Bank of England governor Mark Carney signaled that interest rate could rise sooner than forecast, due to strong economic growth. In a speech at the annual Mansion House in the City of London to financial and political leaders on Thursday, the governor said that interest rate "could happen sooner than markets currently expect." "There's already great speculation about the exact timing of the first rate hike and this decision is becoming more balanced. However, the decision would be dependent on data and is not a pre-set course", he added. There remains more spare capacity in the economy that would need to be used up first, he said.
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FITCH AFFIRMS UK RATINGS AT 'AA+'; OUTLOOK STABLE
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The Bank of Japan retained its monetary policy unchanged while raising its view on overseas growth. The policy board of the BoJ unanimously decided to increase the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY60-JPY70 trillion as widely expected by economists. "Overseas economies -- mainly advanced economies -- are recovering, albeit with a lackluster performance still seen in part," the bank said. With regard to the Japan outlook, the bank said the economy is expected to continue a moderate recovery as a trend, while it will be affected by the subsequent decline in demand following the front-loaded increase prior to the consumption tax hike.
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Japan industrial production was revised to show a steeper decline in April, final figures from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. Industrial output declined 2.8% on month in April, a faster rate of decline than the preliminary estimate of a 2.5% fall. In March, production rose 0.7%. On a year-over-year basis, industrial output rose by a revised 3.8%, down from the preliminary estimate of a 4.1% rise. This follows the 6.4% increase in March.
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China's industrial production and retail sales growth accelerated in May, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Industrial production grew at a pace of 8.8% year-on-year in May, following April's 8.7% increase. The rate came in line with economists' expectations. At the same time, retail sales advanced 12.5% annually in May after rising 11.9% a month ago. Sales were expected to rise by 12.1%. During January to May, urban fixed asset investment grew 17.2% from the same period of last year and matched expectations.
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GERMANY MAY CPI UP UNREV 0.9% ON YEAR; MAY CPI DOWN 0.1% ON MONTH: FINAL
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FRANCE Q1 PRIVATE-SECTOR PAYROLLS FALL 21,700, 0.1% Q/Q
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The US is not considering sending troops into Iraq to stop advances by Islamist militants, a State Department spokeswoman said. Describing the situation as "alarming" and saying there has been a "clear structural breakdown" in Iraq, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US and Iraq "share a commitment to addressing threats from groups such as ISIL." Psaki spoke at a briefing after US President Barack Obama said his administration was "looking at all options" on how to respond to the latest violence in Iraq.
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Sunni militants fighting the Iraqi government appeared to tighten their hold Thursday on northern regions, as one of their leaders called on the group's insurgents to march on Baghdad. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's request for a state of emergency was rebuffed by lawmakers as parliament was adjourned due to a lack of quorum. Reports from Tikrit, a provincial capital 170 kilometres north of Baghdad, appeared to confirm that the city was still in the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), despite government denials. An al-Qaeda splinter group that this week overran Iraq's second city Mosul, ISIL claimed on Twitter to have captured 4,500 government troops in Tikrit's Salah al-Din province.
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Ukraine said late Thursday that separatists in eastern Ukraine had obtained heavy armour from neighbouring Russia. Pro-Russian militants had brought at least three tanks across the border, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told journalists in Kiev. President Petro Poroshenko had voiced "extreme concern" over the tanks and the wider clashes in eastern Ukraine, in a phone call, said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, speaking at a press conference in Georgia. Moscow made no immediate comment.
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Neymar set off the first World Cup fireworks in a very literal sense as his double against Croatia sparked wild celebrations in Brazil. Each goal Thursday, and the last one from Oscar, in Brazil's World Cup opening win over Croatia, 3-1, was followed immediately by fireworks in the vicinity of the Sao Paulo arena and probably elsewhere in the country as well.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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S&P CAPITAL IQ RAISES BAE SYSTEMS TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 450 (380) PENCE
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TRADERS: MORGAN STANLEY INITIATES SPECTRIS WITH 'OVERWEIGHT'
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TRADERS: MORGAN STANLEY CUTS ASOS TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL-WEIGHT')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Tullow Oil PLC said it has refinanced its USD330 million Norwegian exploration loan facility, increaing the facility to USD500 million and extending the loan availability to the end of 2017. The FTSE 100 oil and gas exploration company said the arrangement replaces a previous facility arranged by Spring Energy before it was acquired by Tullow Oil in January 2013. It was due to expire in December 2014.
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GlaxoSmithKline PLC said a late stage study of its drug eltrombopag for the treatment of chronic immune thrombocytopenia in paediatric patients had met its primary endpoint. Immune thrombocytopenia is a bleeding disorder where the blood does not clot properly. The drug, which its marketed as Promacta in the US and Revolade in Europe, showed a statistically significant improvement in platelet counts compared to a placebo.
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AstraZeneca PLC said late Thursday the US Food and Drug Administration's Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee has recommended the FDA not require cardiovascular outcomes trials for a class of drugs including AstraZeneca's movantix treatment. Movantix is a mu-opioid receptor antagonist for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in patients with chronic non-cancer pain. Opioids assist with chronic pain relief by binding mu-receptors in the brain, but also bind nu-receptors in the bowel, which means patients taking opioids for chronic pain can develop opioid-induced constipation.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Petra Diamonds Recovers 122.52 Carat Blue Diamond At Cullinan, South Africa
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Northgate Completes Refinancing; Extends Multi Bank Facility Maturity By 1Y, Increased To GBP534M
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Enquest To Buy Interest In Seligi Oil Field, PM8 PSC, Offshore Malaysia
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Goldplat PLC warned that, despite achieving an overall operating profit in its full year, levels of operating profit will be materially below market expectations due to suspension of operations, continuing losses from its Kilimapesa gold mine in Kenya, and a delay of sales in its fourth quarter. The gold recovery and production company in Africa, which is currently in its fourth quarter, said it continues to operate profitably in its second half, with substantial improvements on its first half figures to December 31, when the company was hit by an operating loss of GBP694,000. However, the company warned its figures would not reach market expectations due to short-term and temporary suspensions of toll treatment activities, continuing losses from its Kilimapesa gold mine in Kenya as the company searches for a joint venture partner to increase milling capacity, and a delay of the sale of fine carbon contracts at the company's gold recovery operation in Ghana.
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UK women's clothing retailer Bonmarche Holdings PLC reported strong profit and sales growth in its most recent financial year, driven by market share gains, price increases and growth in its online business. In its maiden results as a listed company, the clothing retailer targeting women over 50 years old, reported a pretax profit of GBP11.2 million for the financial year ended March 29, up from GBP6.1 million a year earlier, as the company posted a 12% increase in revenues to GBP164.3 million from GBP146.8 million the prior year. Like-for-like sales also grew strongly, up more than 10%. The retailer declared its first dividend of 2.1 pence per share for the year.
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Transense Technologies PLC said it now expects to post a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for its current financial year, albeit a narrower loss than last year, after it experienced delays in getting some new orders. In a statement, the company, which makes sensors like tyre pressure sensors for cars and trucks, said it expects its revenue in the year to end-June to be no less that GBP3.5 million, up from GBP1.5 million a year earlier, but that is lower that it had expected when it put out its interim results in February.
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Toye & Co PLC said Chairman Bryan Toye will make a takeover offer for the whole company after he bought 272,000 shares from Harris Rodriguez Ltd, meaning the stake he holds along with backers will increase to 53.2%. In a statement, the maker of jewellery and items like insignia and embroidery for military uniforms said its chairman paid Gibralter-based Harris Rodriguez 35 pence a share for its stake, and his offer for the rest of the shares in the company will be made at the same price.
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SThree PLC said its performance had improved during its second quarter, boosted by economic recovery in a number of its markets, resulting in a 13% rise in gross profit at constant currency in the half year to June 1. At actual currency levels, gross profit rose 10% to GBP100.9M from GBP91.6M.
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Online gambling and sports entertainment company Sportech PLC said it has appointed Non-Executive Director Richard Roberts as an executive director, with effect from July 14. Sportech said that Roberts will become president of digital in the US and will report to Chief Executive Ian Penrose. Roberts currently serves as chief executive officer of Slingo Inc, a gambling, mobile social games and entertainment licensing business which was bought by Real Networks in 2013.
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Fuel cells developer Proton Power Systems PLC said Chairman John Wall has died. Wall joined the board of the company back in 2006 and was a key part of the company's development, having served in both executive and non-executive roles.
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Coms Issues Corrected FY EBITDA Of GBP827,348 Vs LBITDA GBP797,421; Corrected FY Earnings Per Share 0.24p Vs Loss Per Share 0.40p; Restored To Trading On AIM
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Duet Real Estate Finance
SOCO International
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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