Spectra (unres) Share News (SPSY)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened lower Monday, despite a firm lead from the close on Wall Street Friday, amid continued concern about the developing civil war in Iraq.

Shares exposed to rising oil prices were leading fallers early Monday, including Easyjet and Tui Travel.

Online fashion retailer ASOS PLC said it has re-started taking orders from its website, after South Yorkshire police started a criminal investigation into a fire at the company's main distribution centre in Barnsley. In a statement early Monday morning, ASOS said it had GBP159 million worth of stock in total on May 31, about 70% of which was held at the Barnsley site. ASOS shares are off 2.2%.

Panmure Gordon has slashed the price target for Filtronic almost in half, to 28 pence from 54 pence, after the wireless technology manufacturer warned early Monday that it expects its financial year 2015 results to be "considerably lower" than current market expectations. Filtronic shares are down 30% to 27p.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6,794.98
FTSE 250: down 0.6% at 15,701.04
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 784.39
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Hang Seng: down 1.5% at 22,835.44
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.1% at 15,369.28
DJIA: closed up 0.2% at 16,947.08
S&P 500: closed up 0.2% at 1,962.87
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.7030
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3597

GOLD: up at USD1,316.08 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD115.34 a barrel

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

09:00 EU Markit Services, Manufacturing and Composite PMI Preliminary
13:30 US Chicago Fed National Activity Index
14:45 US Markit Manufacturing PMI Preliminary
15:00 US Existing Home Sales
16:30 US 3-Month and 6-Month Bill Auction
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Britain's recovery has become entrenched and the Bank of England should start to raise interest rates in the coming months to reflect the stronger economy, Monetary Policy Committee member David Miles writes in The Daily Telegraph. David Miles, one of the nine members of the Bank’s MPC that sets interest rates and one of its most dovish members, described the recovery as “resilient”, “”firm” and “sustainable”, and said it was increasingly likely he would vote to raise rates from a record low of 0.5% before leaving the committee next May.
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Chinese manufacturing activity rebounded in June, flash estimates from a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC Bank showed. The HSBC flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.8 in June from 49.4 in May, logging the highest reading in seven months. Economists had expected the index to come in at 49.7. According to the preliminary estimates, the manufacturing output index rose 2 points and rebounded to 51.8 in June, the highest in seven months.
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An index monitoring the manufacturing sector in Japan came in with a score of 51.1 in May, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed - up from 49.9 in April. That pushes the index into expansionary territory, as a score above 50 signals growth in a sector while a reading below means contraction. Among the individual components of the survey, the output index rose for the first time in three months to 51.8 - signalling expansion.
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Islamist-led insurgents have seized three towns in western Iraq, expanding their territorial gains in the restive area, Iraqi media reported. Fighters from the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of the towns of Ana and Rawa in the mostly Sunni western province of Anbar, independent Alsumaria TV reported online, citing an unnamed security official. The insurgents advanced into both towns after government forces abandoned their posts, according to the report.
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The Israeli air force late Sunday attacked nine targets in neighbouring Syria after the death of an Israeli on the Syrian border, a military spokesman said. Israeli tanks took up positions earlier Sunday and started firing on the targets along the Golan Heights that have been occupied by Israel since 1967. It was the first Israeli death in the region since the conflict began in Syria more than three years ago, but there have been several incidents during that time.
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Fighting and casualties were reported Saturday near the eastern separatist stronghold of Sloviansk and at border posts on the Russia-Ukraine border despite a government-declared ceasefire that began the previous night. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine charged the government with not observing its unilaterally declared ceasefire. Shelling and airstrikes on Sloviansk continued, Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told Russia's Interfax news agency. Russia's domestic spy agency, the FSB, which is responsible for border security, also said fighting continued Saturday without saying whether pro-Ukrainian forces had broken the ceasefire. Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the ceasefire declaration but said the Ukrainian government must use it not as an ultimatum to the separatists but as an opportunity to open a dialogue with them.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron will force fellow EU leaders to vote on who should lead the bloc's executive if they are unwilling to consider a candidate other than Jean-Claude Juncker. The move would mark a departure from the consensus-based approach to the appointment of the European Commission president and would further strain ties between London and the 28-member bloc. Cameron opposes Juncker, the centre-right former prime minister of Luxembourg, for his support of closer EU integration and has denounced the selection process for the head of commission as illegitimate.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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HSBC RAISES UNITED UTILITIES PRICE TARGET TO 820 (770) PENCE - 'UNDERWEIGHT'
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HSBC CUTS PROVIDENT TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 1815 (1800) PENCE
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GOLDMAN INITIATES FOXTONS WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 370 PENCE
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GOLDMAN INITIATES HOWDEN JOINERY GROUP WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 425 PENCE
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PANMURE CUTS FILTRONIC PRICE TARGET TO 28 (54) PENCE - 'HOLD'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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British Airways, one of the airlines owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group PLC, is facing the threat of renewed strikes after cabin crew said they were prepared to take industrial action after their pay claims were rebuffed, The Guardian reports Monday without citing any sources. In a consultative ballot last week among members of the mixed fleet, 95% of crew who voted said they would go on strike, the paper says, adding that about a third of the eligible crew voted in the ballot, taken to gauge feeling in a fleet which unionised rapidly under Unite in 2012.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC said its EMS Development Corp business in the US has won a contract worth more than USD21 million over five years from General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. Under the contract, the company will produce naval computer-controlled power supply systems.
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IP Group Gets Positive Results From 6 Month Phase 2 Clinical Study On Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia; To Start Phase 3 Of Clinical Study On Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Online fashion retailer ASOS PLC said it has re-started taking orders from its website, after South Yorkshire police started a criminal investigation into a fire at the company's main distribution centre in Barnsley. In a statement early Monday morning, ASOS said it had GBP159 million worth of stock in total on May 31, about 70% of which was held at the Barnsley site. It said its initial estimate is that about 20% of the stock at Barnsley has been compromised by fire and sprinkler systems damage. The fire started at its Barnsley warehouse in the early hours of Saturday morning, and ASOS halted orders. However, it said it had re-started taking orders at 0200 BST Monday morning.
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Filtronic PLC said it expects its performance for the financial year 2015 to be considerably lower than market expectations, as contract delays and the repositioning of its Wireless business weigh on its performance. The company, which makes products for the wireless telecommunications market, said its Wireless business had seen revenues of GBP23 million in the year ended May 31, down from GBP31 million the year earlier, while Broadband revenues rose to GBP9.7 million from GBP8.1 million. As a result of this, and due to costs of establishing its new antenna operations, Filtronic said it expects to report a small operating loss of not more than GBP500,000 before exception items and amortisation for the recent financial year year.
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Custodian REIT PLC said it has acquired a parcel distribution depot at Bermuda Park, Nuneaton in a deal worth GBP3.0 million, funded from its own cash resources. The property investment company did not name the seller. Custodian REIT said the 37,000 square feet specialist parcel depot benefits from 38 cross-docked loading doors on a site of 3.26 acres, which represents a very low site cover. The property is let to DX Network Services Ltd on a 15 year lease, expiring in August 2016, at a passing rent of GBP242,000 a year, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.75%.
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SolGold PLC said it has extended a visible copper mineralisation region at Hole 7 of its Cascabel copper-gold porphyry project in Ecuador, ahead of its first assay results from drilling at the hole. The gold exploration company announced the original find on June 13, saying at the time that the hole found visual mineralisation from 540.7 to 960 metres and is continuing to find copper sulphide mineralisation as it drilled deeper. On Monday, it said the hole has now found mineralisation over a 710.60 metre down-hole area from 540.7 to 1251.3 metres, with visible mineralisation continuing to increase.
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Aseana Properties Ltd said it will sell its 40% stake in Excellent Bonanza Sdn Bhd to Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd in a deal worth MYR20 million in cash. Excellent Bonanza, in which Malaysian Resources already holds at 60% stake, is developing two Grade A offices towers and a business hotel in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. The company said the disposal is in line with its strategy to realise completed assets and to return capital to shareholders. Construction of the office towers has been completed and leasing is currently underway. The hotel also has been constructed and is currently taking bookings.
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African low-cost airline fastjet PLC said it was set to launch its third cross-border route from its home base of Tanzania, with flights to Zimbabwe set to start in August. The airline initially started flying within Tanzania, but has launched routes to Johannesburg in South Africa and to Lusaka in Zambia. It said it will launch a twice weekly operation from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Harare in Zimbawe, with advance tickets available from Monday for as low as USD50 plus charges and taxes. It claims this is significantly cheaper than fares from operators offering non-direct flights between the two cities.
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Drug discovery company Summit Corp PLC said it has appointed Erik Ostrowski as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect, based out of its recently established Cambridge, Massachusetts operations.
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Ithaca Energy Inc said it has entered a deal with Sumitomo Corp to acquire interests in three producing oil fields onshore and offshore in the UK for a total payment of USD170 million, providing a large increase in reserves and adding to its 2014 production guidance. Ithaca didn't provide details of how it is financing the acquisition. The North Sea oil and gas exploration and development company said the deal allows it to acquire a further 20% interest in the Cook field, bringing its total holding at the site to 61.346%, while it will also acquire its first 7.48% interest in the Pierce field and 7.43% interest in the Wytch Farm field.
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Cenkos Securities PLC said it expects its first-half revenue and pretax profit to be significantly higher than market expectations and above the year-earlier results, because recent trading has been stronger than the company expected. In a short trading statement, the specialist securities company said it expects to report its results for the six months to June 30 in September.
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Verona Pharma PLC said its VRP700 novel treatment for chronic severe cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis had failed to meet the primary endpoint in a phase IIa clinical trial, and it will now end further development of the drug on its own. In a statement, it said the trial to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of VRP700 did not meet the primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in cough frequency when compared to
placebo.
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Spectra Systems Corp PLC said it is partnering with the Central Bank of Indonesia to evaluate the performance of Spectra Systems Aeris technology which uses supercritical carbon dioxide to clean soiled banknotes. Aeris is a banknote cleaning system, which aims to extend the life of paper banknotes by cleaning them without affecting their mechanical properties and security features. Spectra Systems said the testing will be determine the potential of this technology for producing significant savings for the Central Bank of Indonesia.
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Tracsis PLC said it expects to see revenue and profit "significantly" ahead of market expectations for the year ending July 31, buoyed by high levels of investment in UK rail services. The company, which provides software and technology for the transportation industry, expects to post full year revenue of over GBP20 million.
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Acal
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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