Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices started the new year on the back foot Monday, undermined by a weak set of Chinese economic data which triggered a drop in Asian markets.

In a miserable start to 2016 for Asian investors, trading on China's main bourses, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, halted for the day as a benchmark index fell over 7% off the back of the weak Chinese manufacturing data. The fall in the CSI 300 Index triggered an automatic "circuit breaker" mechanism - only introduced on Monday - that halted trading for the day. The CSI 300 comprises the 300 largest firms listed on the mainland.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: down 1.8% at 6,130.48
FTSE 250: down 1.1% at 17,240.60
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 738.95
----------
Hang Seng: down 2.7% at 21,327.12
Nikkei 225: closed down 3.1% at 18,450.98
DJIA: closed 1.0% at 17,425.03
S&P 500: closed down 0.9% at 2,043.94
----------
GBP: down at USD1.4758 (USD1.4823)
EUR: up at USD1.0923 (USD1.0888)

GOLD: up at USD1,070.60 per ounce (USD1,059.56)
OIL (Brent): up at USD37.52 a barrel (USD36.18)

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

08:45 Italy Markit Manufacturing PMI
08:50 France Markit Manufacturing PMI
08:55 Germany Markit Manufacturing PMI
09:00 EU Markit Manufacturing PMI
09:30 UK M4 Money Supply, Mortgage Approvals, Consumer Credit, Net Lending
09:30 UK Markit Manufacturing PMI
13:00 Germany Consumer Price Index
13:30 US Personal Income, Spending and Consumption Expenditures - Price Index
14:30 Canada RBC Manufacturing PMI
14:45 US Markit Manufacturing PMI
15:00 US ISM Manufacturing PMI and Prices Paid
15:00 US Construction Spending
----------
China's manufacturing sector continued to contract in December on weak orders and a renewed fall in output, reflecting the complexity in achieving its ambitious growth target for 2015. The Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index fell unexpectedly to 48.2 in December from 48.6 in November, survey data from Markit revealed. It was forecast to rise marginally to 48.9. At the same time, the official manufacturing PMI came in at 49.7, slightly up from 49.6 in November. "This shows that the forces driving an economic recovery have encountered obstacles and the economy is facing a greater risk of weakening," He Fan, chief economist at Caixin Insight Group, said.
----------
UK private sector economic growth picked up at the end of the year, according to the latest Confederation of British Industry Growth Indicator. The balance of firms reporting rising output was +20%, compared with +13% in November, well above the long run average of +5%, the report showed Monday. The economy is expected to grow at a similar pace over the next three months, at +20%, well above the long-run average. "The UK economy has finished the year strongly, with business services acting as a lightning rod for growth," Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said. Nonetheless, she said there is no room for complacency in 2016 as significant challenges to global growth remain.
----------
Ireland's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months in December, driven by stronger growth in new orders, survey figures from Markit Economics showed. The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, climbed to 54.2 in December from 53.3 in the previous month.
----------
Argentina called for talks with Britain over the status of the disputed Falkland Islands. "Argentina underscores its desire for a peaceful solution to the conflict and invites Great Britain to resume talks," the Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires said to mark 183 years of British control of the islands. The islands some 400 kilometres off Argentina's coast are known in Argentina as the Malvinas and have been under British control since 1833. The nations fought a brief war over the islands in 1982 that left some 900 people dead. Residents voted overwhelmingly in 2013 to remain part of Britain.
----------
Greece will meet all of its obligations to its creditors in full, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged on Sunday in remarks reported by the Athens-based newspaper Realnews, but his government would not accept any "nonsensical demands". Tsipras did not specify what those demands might be. He said that by sticking to the austerity programme and implementing the remaining reforms, Greece would emerge from its economic crisis in 2016. Tsipras was confident that he would be successful in getting a pension reform plan through parliament, saying his majority of 153 out of 300 lawmakers was "absolutely solid".
----------
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran and ordered Iranian diplomats to leave the country amid tensions between the two regional powers over Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to sever its ties with Iran and has requested all members of the Iranian diplomatic mission to leave within 48 hours," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said. He added at a press conference in Riyadh that Saudi diplomats had already left Tehran en route for home. The move comes after angry Iranians stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran protesting the execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr known for activism against the kingdom's Sunni rulers.
----------
Russian oil production increased to an average of 10.73 million barrels per day in 2015, the highest level since the fall of the former Soviet Union in 1991, the Interfax news agency cited the Energy Ministry in Moscow as saying. This compares to the 10.58 million barrels per day the ministry reported in 2014. Along with the US and Saudi Arabia, Russia is one of the world's largest producers of oil. More than a third of the 2015 total was produced by the state oil company Rosneft.
----------
Kurdish-led forces continued their advance on two fronts in northern Syria, gaining ground from rebels north of Aleppo and from the Islamic State extremist group north of its de facto capital of al-Raqqa. The Hawar news agency, close to the Kurdish-led Democratic Forces of Syria, said that a DFS faction had captured the village of Kishtiar north of Aleppo from Islamist rebels.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
---------
BERENBERG CUTS VODAFONE PRICE TARGET TO 250 (264) PENCE - 'BUY'
----------
BERNSTEIN CUTS MARKS & SPENCER PRICE TARGET TO 500 (535) PENCE - 'MARKET-PERFORM'
----------
TRADERS: BARCLAYS RAISES NATIONAL GRID PRICE TARGET TO 1020 (960) PENCE
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
Irish drugmaker Shire is in advanced talks to acquire US-based Baxalta for around USD32.0 billion in cash and shares, with a deal potentially set to be announced later this week, Bloomberg reported. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the pair are talking about a deal between USD46.50 and USD48.00 per share for Baxalta, though the final details of the transaction are still be negotiated. Shire made an unsolicited USD30.0 billion all-stock bid for Baxalta in July, which was rejected, but Baxalta is understood to be more amenable to a deal involving a higher proportion of cash, the news service said.
----------
Sports Direct International said Michael Murray, who was appointed to head up the company's property team last year, is not a director of the firm, contrary to recent press speculation. Sports Direct said that 26-year-old Murray, who is the boyfriend of founder Mike Ashley's daughter Anna Ashley, has a consultancy agreement with the company, with his primary role to find new sites for both Sports Direct's larger-format stores and its combined retail and gym units. Murray is not paid a salary and his remuneration is decided by an independent annual review undertaken by the company's non-executive directors, the retailer added. Last month, The Telegraph reported that Murray had been made a director at five companies linked to Mike Ashley, including Sports Direct.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Grainger said it has agreed with Turbo Group Holdings to sell its Equity Release division for a total consideration of GBP325.0 million, including debt. Grainger said the sale of its retirement products unit to Turbo, owned by Patron Capital Partners and Electra Private Equity, will allow it to focus on its residential lettings business, following the sale of its wholly-owned and joint venture assets in Germany. The sale consideration will include GBP175.0 million in cash and the transfer of GBP150.0 million in debt to the buyer and will cut Grainger's net debt position by an estimated GBP325.0 million.
----------
Roadside assistance and insurance company AA said it has struck a business-to-business deal with fleet management and fleet funding company Lex Autolease. The three-year deal will see the AA provide roadside assistance to Lex Autolease's 300,000 vehicle-strong UK fleet and will start in this month. No financial details on the agreement were disclosed.
----------
UK Commercial Property Trust said it has struck deals to acquire properties in Newcastle and Glasgow for a total of GBP50.8 million. The property investor will pay GBP21.6 million to acquire the Central Square office building in Newcastle from Parabola Estates, at a net initial yield of 6.4%. The company has also acquired a leisure scheme in Glasgow for GBP29.2 million in an off-market transaction. The property is located in the city centre and anchored by a 100,000 square foot Cineworld cinema, along with further leisure space. It currently generates GBP1.7 million a year in rent.
----------
Property investor Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate said it has completed the purchase of the La Moraleja Green shopping centre in Madrid for EUR71.0 million. The company has acquired a 95.2% stake in the centre from ING Real Estate and other investors, it said, at a net initial yield of 6.2%. The deal has bee funded from existing cash resources.
----------
Cairn Energy said it received positive results from tests carried out on the SNE-2 appraisal well offshore Senegal as the company moves onto its third and final well on the field before updating its resource estimates. The oil company said drill-stem testing was carried out on the SNE-2 well over a 12.0 metre interval which produced a stabilised but constrained flow rate of 8,000 barrels of oil per day of high quality pay. The company said the result confirmed the "high deliverability" of the main reservoir in the well.
----------
Department store chain Debenhams has held talks with former Kingfisher Chief Executive Ian Cheshire about joining its board, the Financial Times reported. Michael Sharp, Debenhams' current chief executive, announced he would be stepping down this year back in October and his departure may be followed by that of Chairman Nigel Northridge, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, the FT said. The source said Debenhams had held talks with Cheshire, who left the B&Q owner last year, but that no agreement had been reached, and there remained uncertainty about whether he would join in an executive or non-executive capacity.
----------
COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
----------
Irish corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group said it paid EUR186.0 million to acquire two packaging businesses in Brazil, strengthening its position in the Latin American market. Smurfit bought Industria de Embalagens Santana and Paema Embalagens, two privately-owned integrated packaging businesses. The pair have three recycling containerboard mills and four corrugated packaging facilities between them and service the north and south of the country.
----------
Building products manufacturer Epwin Group said it has bought Stormking Plastics Ltd for up to GBP35 million in cash and shares. Epwin will pay GBP20.3 million cash at completion, plus 5.3 million shares at 126.2 pence each. A further consideration of up to GBP8 million may be paid in the same ratio of cash to shares as the initial consideration dependent upon Stormking's performance in the year to February 28, 2017. Epwin shares closed Thursday last week at 129.62p, down 1.4%.
----------
The string of AIM-listed companies involved in the Horse Hill project in southern England on Monday said they have secured the last necessary approval to conduct a flowtest on the Horse Hill-1 well located near Gatwick Airport. The extended flowtest will be conducted over three separate intervals in the Horse Hill-1 well after the UK Oil & Gas Authority gave the green light for the test. That follows on similar approval being secured from the Environment Agency in late November.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors plan to produce 8.13 million vehicles in 2016, an increase of 1.6% in global sales. The group lowering its annual target from a year earlier due to tough market conditions at home and abroad. This is a downgrade from the previous year when the group, which owns Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., pushed to sell 8.2 million units. "The auto industry is going through a structural change with intensified competition and a move toward smartcars," Chairman Chung Mong-koo told employees in a New Year's speech.
----------
Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Baker Steel Resources (re investment policy)
RPC Group (re proposed acquisition of Global Closure System)
APR Energy (re acquisition by Fairfax, ACON, Albright consortium)
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.