Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened mixed, as markets seem unimpressed by economic stimulus measures announced by China and look ahead to the results of Thursday's European Central Bank meetings.

Ahead of the ECB announcement at 1145 GMT, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde called Wednesday for easing of monetary policy in the EU.

Europe's largest home improvement retailer Kingfisher PLC said it is in exclusive negotiations to acquire French home improvement retail chain Mr Bricolage, for an overall enterprise vale of around EUR275 million.

Vodafone PLC confirmed plans to invest GBP100 million in the UK to open 150 new retail shops and create 1,400 jobs, as it ramps up its investment programme in the country. Vodafone plans to invest GBP1 billion during 2014 in its UK networks and services.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,664.74
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 16,392.11
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 853.33
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Hang Seng: up 0.2% at 22,578.33
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.8% at 15,071.88
DJIA: closed up 0.2% at 16,573.00
S&P 500: closed up 0.3% at 1,890.90
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6652
EUR-USD: slightly up at USD1.3769

GOLD: flat at USD1,290.47 per ounce
OIL (Brent): slightly up at USD104.62 a barrel

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

08:45 Italy Markit Services PMI
08:50 France Markit Services PMI
08:55 Germany Markit Services PMI
09:00 EU Markit Services and Composite PMI
09:30 UK BOE Credit Conditions Survey
09:30 UK Markit Services PMI
10:00 EU Retail Sales
n/a France 10-y Bond Auction
12:30 US Challenger Job Cuts
12:45 EU ECB Interest Rate Decision
13:30 EU ECB Monetary policy statement and press conference
13:30 US Jobless Claims
13:30 Canada International Merchandise Trade
13:30 US Trade Balance
13:58 US Markit Services PMI
15:00 US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
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China announced slew of measures to bring the economic recovery on track to achieve this year's 7.5% growth target. The three major initiatives announced by the State Council on Wednesday include reforms in railway, the urban redevelopment program and tax breaks for small and micro enterprises.
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The service sector in China expanded at a faster pace in March, the latest PMI from HSBC and Markit Economics revealed on Thursday, coming in with a four-month high score of 51.9. That's up from 51.0 in February, and it moves farther above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
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International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde called Wednesday for easing of monetary policy in the EU. She cited the risk of low inflation in advanced economies as an obstacle to short-term global growth, but insisted the issue was not deflation. "There is the emerging risk of what I call 'low-flation', particularly in the euro area," Lagarde said in an address at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "A potentially prolonged period of low inflation can suppress demand and output - and suppress growth and jobs," she said. "More monetary easing, including through unconventional measures, is needed in the euro area to raise the prospects of achieving the (European Central Bank's) price stability objective."
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British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), on Wednesday traded increasingly bitter jibes during a live televised debate about Britain's membership of the EU. Clegg, the leader of the pro-EU Liberal Democrat party, accused Farage several times of indulging in "fantasy" and said the UKIP leader's arguments for quitting the bloc were a "dangerous con." Farage responded that the majority of Britons did not want to be part of a political union within the EU but that an exit was being blocked by people like Clegg, who was part of a "career political class" with "friends in big business." The two men were taking part in the second of two debates on whether Britain should remain in the EU.
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Growth in the Irish service sector regained momentum at the end of the first quarter of 2014, data from Markit Economics showed. The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 60.7 in March from 57.5 in February. The score above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. Activity has now risen in each of the past 20 months.
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NATO's decision to suspend cooperation with Russia on civilian and military matters is regrettable as it benefits neither the military alliance nor Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. NATO's move was announced Tuesday in Brussels by its foreign ministers, who raised the possibility of deployments as part of their response to the Ukrainian crisis. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the language of the ministers' statement was reminiscent of vocabulary used during the Cold War. NATO's decision will benefit terrorists and organized crime and will complicate response efforts in future natural disasters, the spokesman said.
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Four people were reported to have been killed Wednesday in shooting at a US Army base in Texas and the base remained on lockdown as military police went building to building searching for others involved. The shooter was among the four dead, said US Representative Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Unidentified government officials told the Washington Post at least four were dead. The shooter has been identified by multiple government sources as Army Specialist Ivan Lopez, the newspaper said. Fourteen people were injured, McCaul told CNN. Fort Hood was the scene of a shooting rampage five years ago in which 13 people were shot dead and dozens were injured.
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The death toll from the mudslide in the US state of Washington rose to 29 Wednesday, as President Barack Obama issued a federal disaster declaration to help the obliterated town of Oso recover from the catastrophe.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Afghan presidential candidates, their supporters and election authorities to make sure voting Saturday is conducted legally, even as an attack took place in the war-torn country's capital. At least six police officers were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up in front of the Interior Ministry in Kabul, the government said.
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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak joined his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott in an inspection of the air force base in Perth that is serving as the centre of a huge international operation to find missing flight MH370. Welcoming Najib to Pearce Air Force base north of Perth, the search coordinator, former Air Force chief Angus Houston, said the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines airliner was "one of the most complex operations the world has ever seen."
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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PANMURE CUTS MCBRIDE TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 100 (120) PENCE
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SHORE CAPITAL CUTS MCBRIDE TO 'SELL' ('HOLD') - TARGET 106 PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES MITCHELLS & BUTLERS TO 'OVERW' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 530 (460) P
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LIBERUM INITIATES PACE PLC WITH 'HOLD' - TARGET 420 PENCE
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Investec Cuts HSBC To Hold From Buy, Cuts PT To 640p from 745p
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UBS RAISES TULLOW OIL TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 900 (925) PENCE
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BERNSTEIN RAISES STANDARD LIFE TO 'MARKET-PERFORM' ('UNDERPERFORM')
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TRADERS: GOLDMAN ADDS DAILY MAIL TO 'CONVICTION BUY LIST' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: NUMIS CUTS SMITH & NEPHEW TO 'HOLD' ('ADD')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Europe's largest home improvement retailer Kingfisher PLC said it is in exclusive negotiations to acquire French home improvement retail chain Mr Bricolage, for an overall enterprise vale of around EUR275 million. Kingfisher, which owns and operates the brands B&Q, Screwfix and Castorama and Brico Dépôt in France, said it has started exclusive negotiations with the principal shareholders of Mr Bricolage to acquire their shareholdings.
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Vodafone PLC confirmed plans to invest GBP100 million in the UK to open 150 new retail shops and create 1,400 jobs, as it ramps up its investment programme in the country. Vodafone plans to invest GBP1 billion during 2014 in its UK networks and services. Vodafone said work was already "well under way" on its commitment to providing indoor and outdoor coverage of 2G, 3G and 4G services to 98% of the UK's population by 2015.
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Sports Direct International PLC said shareholders have rejected a GBP72.5 million bonus package for the company's founder, deputy chairman and biggest shareholder, Mike Ashley.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Sweeteners and starches maker Tate & Lyle PLC said its operating profit for the year just ended will be lower, as sweetener volumes in both of its divisions were held back by a soft US beverage sector. In a trading statement on February 13, the group said that adjusted pretax profit for the third quarter came in lower than expectations, as volume and sales growth in its SPLENDA sucraclose sweetner remained in line with first-half levels and its expectations.
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Electrocomponents PLC said it expects to meet underlying pretax profit expectations for the year ended March 31, as margin remained stable and operating costs were "tightly controlled." Underlying pretax profit does not include reorganisation costs. Headline forecasts for pretax profit are GBP101 million, the company said, up from GBP94.1 million in the previous year.
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SOCO International PLC said it has hired Anya Weaving as its new chief financial officer, effective May 1, 2014. Weaving joins the company from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where she was a managing director in Mergers and Acquisitions, responsible for the oil and gas sector. In the role she advised clients across the sector, including SOCO; she originally advised on the sale of SOCO's Yemen assets in 2008, and subsequently on the sale of the firms' Thailand assets and the buyout of the minority partner in SOCO's Vietnam subsidiary, said the company.
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Hyder Consulting PLC said it has performed in line with its revised expectations for the year, and also said it has acquired environmental planning consultants Flinders Group Pty Ltd in a deal worth up to GBP3.2 million.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

AMEC
Scottish American Investment Company
Delphi Automotive
Thor Mining
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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