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LONDON (Alliance News) - A mixed but slightly better-than-expected set of economic data from China released early Monday has given London share prices a firm start to the week.

China's gross domestic product grew 6.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, slightly slower than the 7.0% expansion each seen in the first two quarters but better than the 6.8% that economists had been expecting.

Shares in Irish pharmaceutical firm Shire were down 1.8%, the worst FTSE 100 performer, after the US FDA requested an additional clinical study be undertaken for Shire's lifitegrast drug.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,386.45
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 16,926.16
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 741.67
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Hang Seng: down 0.2% at 23,025.02
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.9% at 18,131.23
DJIA: closed up 0/4% at 17,215.97
S&P 500: closed up 0.5% at 2,033.11
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GBP: flat at USD1.5449 (USD1.5440)
EUR: flat at USD1.1362 (USD1.1359)

GOLD: down at USD1,172.30 per ounce (USD1,182.07)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD50.31 a barrel (USD50.31)

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

Canada Federal Election

11:00 Germany Buba Monthly Report
15:00 US NAHB Housing Market Index
17:00 US Fed's Lacker speech
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Although China's growth eased marginally in the third quarter, the economy expanded more than expected on the back of strong service sector performance. Gross domestic product grew 6.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, slightly slower than the 7% expansion each seen in the first two quarters, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Economists were expecting the growth rate to ease to 6.8%. The latest figure is only slightly below the government's target of about 7%.
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China's housing sales growth eased in the first nine months of the year, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Housing sales grew 18.2% in the January to September period, which was slower than the 18.7% climb in the first eight months of this year. Total commercial sales surged 15.3% in the nine months ended September, the same rate of rise as in the January to August period.
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Growth in Chinese industrial output slowed to 5.7% in September from 6.1% in August. It was the weakest since March when production climbed 5.6% and was slower than the expected growth of 6%.
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Chinese retail sales grew at a slightly faster pace of 10.9% year-on-year in September following August's 10.8% rise. It was forecast to grow 10.8% again in September.
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The average asking price for a house in the UK was up 0.6% on month in October, the latest survey from property tracking site Rightmove showed - coming in at GBP296,549. That follows the 0.9% increase in September. On a yearly basis, house prices climbed 5.6% after jumped 6.4% in the previous month.
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The Greek parliament approved an omnibus bill of austerity measures, including pension cuts, raising the retirement age, increasing punishments for tax evasion, and liberalising the energy market on Saturday. After a three-day debate on the controversial economic reform package, the Hellenic nation agreed to a three-year aid package worth EUR86 billion from international creditors. In the debate, 154 lawmakers from co-governing leftist Syriza voted in favor of the bill, while 140 deputies voted against and six were absent.
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The nationalist Swiss People's Party is projected to pick up 11 seats in parliamentary, making it the big winner in Sunday's elections, according to returns. Its 28% share means the SVP will get 65 of 200 seats in the National Council, the country's lower house of parliament, making it the nation's strongest party. However, Switzerland's complex consensus-oriented political system will prevent the SVP from taking over the government. Nonetheless, party head Toni Brunner said he would demand a bigger role in the national government, calling for the SVP to take two of the countries' seven ministries.
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An agreement on Europe's shared responsibilities with Turkey regarding the current refugee crisis is within reach, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday. Talks with Erdogan in Istanbul were "sensible" and "successful," Merkel was cited as saying by a source in the German delegation, adding that controlling migration was a common goal of the two countries. Turkey has so far received very little support for its great efforts, she said, adding that, "therefore we will increase our financial engagement."
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Syrian government troops, backed by Russia jets, on Saturday pushed against rebels in the northern province of Aleppo in a reversal of recent setbacks, activists said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the regime troops, along with fighters from Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, recaptured the villages of al-Shabiyeh, al-Wodayhi and Shoughdile on the southern outskirts of Aleppo.
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The highest ranking leader of a network of veteran al-Qaida operatives, also called the "Khorasan Group," was killed in coalition airstrike in northwest Syria. Abdul Mohsen Adballah Ibrahim al Charekh, also known as Sanafi al-Nasr, was killed in an operation on October 15, according to a US Defense Department statement issued Sunday.
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NATO was due Monday to begin Trident Juncture, a military exercise on land, sea and air described by the trans-Atlantic alliance as the biggest test of its capabilities conducted since 2002. The three-week operation was designed to play out in a fictitious African region dubbed Soroton, ruled by dictators at each others' throats and against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency and ethnic strife. The live part of the exercise - following on from staff training that began earlier this month - was to be launched by top brass from an air base in Trapani, Sicily, and to continue on Italian, Spanish and Portuguese territory.
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The FIFA reform committee concluded a three-day session of meetings Sunday and is preparing to report to the FIFA executive committee on Tuesday, football's world governing body said. "It's been a very positive session characterised by rich and in-depth discussions on all aspects of the proposal for the reforms package which is being prepared," reform committee chair Dr Francois Carrard was quoted as saying by FIFA. The panel had been formed by FIFA in attempt to restore credibility to the organization which has been blighted by a series of scandals since summer.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG CUTS AB FOODS TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 3,450 PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS OXFORD INSTRUMENTS TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: MACQUARIE RAISES VODAFONE TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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HSBC Holdings is understood to be leaning towards keeping its headquarters in the UK after it scored a number of wins in its battle to water down regulatory curbs on the British banking industry, The Sunday Times reported. A "high-level source" at the bank told the paper that Stuart Gulliver, HSBC's chief executive, has secured "pretty much everything he wanted out of the government." On Friday, Bloomberg News had reported that the bank probably won't decide if or where to locate its headquarters until 2016, later than originally planned, as the board seeks to reach an agreement.
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Broadcaster ITV said it has agreed a GBP100.0 million cash deal to acquire the television assets of much-smaller rival UTV Media. Under the deal, ITV will buy UTV's television unit, including its UTV Northern Ireland and recently launched UTV Ireland businesses, in order to strengthen its free-to-air business and allowing it to run a more efficient network, ITV said.
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Shire said the US Food and Drug Administration has requested an additional clinical study be undertaken as part of its complete response letter to the new drug application made for Shire's lifitegrast drug for treating signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. The FDA also requested more information on the product quality, Shire said. The company said it has recently completed a phase 3 study on lifitegrast which, if positive, will form the basis of its response to the US regulator's letter. "We were disappointed, but will soon have data from the Phase 3 study, OPUS 3," said Flemming Ornskov, Shire's chief executive.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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The chief executives of Premier Oil and Enquest have predicted that a further 10,000 jobs will be lost in the UK North Sea as the prolonged period of lower oil prices continues, the Financial Times reported. The companies are two of the biggest independent oil companies operating in the UK North Sea, and the estimate follows 5,500 job losses in the UK oil sector since late 2014, or 15% of the sector's workforce.
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Pay-TV and broadband services technology company Pace noted a statement from Arris Group that the proposed merger of the two companies has been delayed. Arris, the US broadband network equipment maker which agreed to acquire Pace for GBP1.4 billion in cash and shares in April, said the proposed merger of the two companies will now be completed in the first quarter of 2016, rather than the fourth quarter of 2015, due to delays in the regulatory approval processes in Brazil, Colombia and the US.
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Construction and support services company Carillion said it has secured a deal with the UK Homes and Communities Agency to handle the regeneration work at Tower Works in Holbeck Urban Village in the South Bank area of Leeds. The site covers 1.17 hectares and is a former industrial location. Carillion will deliver 90,000 square feet of commercial office space, 24,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and bar space and a number of residential units at the site. The GBP80.0 million deal is expected to start in spring 2016, subject to a site-wide masterplan being approved.
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Property investor LondonMetric Property said it completed the sale of properties in Enfield and Cannock in the UK for a total of GBP32.0 million. LondonMetric said it has sold the Enfield property, part of a joint venture with DFS Furniture, for GBP24.5 million, from which it will receive GBP7.5 million. Separately, the company has sold the Watling Retail Park in Cannock for GBP7.5 million to an unnamed buyer in the UK for GBP7.5 million.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Hoping to sideline the "complexity in its management," Deutsche Bank announced a comprehensive restructuring programme that will reorganize both its leadership and its various divisions. The decision was announced after an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors in Frankfurt. "We want to create a bank that's better-controlled, more cost-efficient and more strongly focused," said chief executive John Cryan. "The new structure and the new management team are of key importance in getting this done." Cryan plans to announce details of the plan on October 29. Part of the plan might involve job cuts. There are reports of 10,000 positions being slashed in addition to the 15,000 positions that will leave the company when Postbank is hived off.
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Air France-KLM President Alexandre de Juniac said 1,000 jobs would be cut at the company in 2016, as part of a restructuring plan that has prompted fierce protests from unions. Speaking on French radio RTL, de Juniac said the job cuts would result mostly from voluntary departures. He said the move was the first part of a restructuring plan, the details of which were announced earlier this month.
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Police staged a surprise raid on the French headquarters of German carmaker Volkswagen on Friday, company spokeswoman Leslie Peltier confirmed to dpa . A spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor's office also confirmed the raid, and told dpa that computers were taken during the search of the headquarters. The search was first reported by the Journal du Dimanche, which said it was part of a preliminary investigation into the company following an emissions testing scandal that has tarnished the Volkswagen name.
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The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation said it won a jury verdict against Apple after a jury trial in federal court. The jury found that Apple infringed a WARF-owned patent claiming an invention that significantly improves the efficiency and speed of computer processing. At the end of the two-week trial, it awarded WARF damages of USD234 million.
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Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc has filed a lawsuit against more than 1,000 people for selling fake reviews on its website, according to media reports over the weekend. Amazon has reportedly filed the lawsuit in Seattle, Washington, against 1,114 freelancers for creating "false, misleading and inauthentic reviews" for some products on sale on Amazon's website. The freelancers are said to have offered false review services for as little as USD5 on Fiverr.com, an online marketplace.
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Metro Group reported that its like-for-like sales rose by 1.3% in the fourth-quarter 2014/15. Both METRO Cash & Carry and Media-Saturn recorded increases in like-for-like sales in fourth-quarter 2014/15 and over financial year 2014/15 as a whole. But reported sales fell by 1.1% to EUR14.2 billion. However, this was due to currency and portfolio effects. Sales in local currencies increased by 1.9%.
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

City of London Investment Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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