Wood Group (J) Share News (WG.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are higher at open Thursday, ahead of some US economic data later in the day.

B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher is leading FTSE 100 fallers, down 5.4%. Despite showing a strong increase in its retail profit for the first quarter, helped by robust trading, a late Easter, favourable weather patterns, and encouraging trading signs in the UK and Poland, the figures missed some analyst expectations.

Following the breakdown of Weir Group's bid to buy Finland's Metso, Weir's own shares are being rated a Buy by Merrill Lynch, according to traders.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,864.96
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 15,955.04
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 807.30
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Hang Seng: down 0.2% at 23,028.24
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.1% at 14,681.72
DJIA: closed down 0.3% at 16,633.18
S&P 500: closed down 0.1% at 1,909.78
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6698
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3589

GOLD: down at USD1,252.71 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD110.02 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
(all times British Summer Time)

13:30 Canada Current Account
13:30 US Gross Domestic Product Price Index
13:30 US Jobless Claims
13:30 US Personal Consumption Expenditures
15:00 US Pending Home Sales
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage
16:00 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
18:00 US 7-Year Note Auction
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Britain needs to start raising interest rates sooner rather than later if it wants to avoid sharp and painful increases in the future, Martin Weale, an external member of the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee told the Financial Times in an interview. Weale said he thought even a “gradual” rise in interest rates could see borrowing costs rise by up to one percentage point a year – faster than markets are expecting. He said his definition of a “gradual” rate rise would involve the bank tightening by “no more than” 25 basis points a quarter, while investors are betting on an increase of about 1.8 percentage points over three years. He told the FT he thought “we can wait a bit longer. How long that ‘bit longer’ will be I’m not sure, but the best judgment I can have is that it’s not so urgent it needs doing now.”
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President-elect Petro Poroshenko vowed Wednesday to crush the rebellion in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists claimed gains against government troops. "We will end this terror," Poroshenko told the German tabloid Bild. "There is a real war being waged against our country."
Poroshenko stressed that he was not giving any orders because he has not yet been inaugurated, but said he was in close contact with the interim government. "I can tell you that the operation has at last really begun," he said, noting that the aim was to capture and prosecute rebel leaders.
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Bank of Japan board member Sayuri Shirai said it will likely take longer than "two years" to achieve the 2% inflation, in order to avoid imposing excessive burdens on firms and households. Speaking at a meeting of business leaders in Okinawa on Thursday, she said the bank should focus on conducting monetary easing with the aim of achieving 2% target in a stable manner with sustainable growth, rather than merely achieving 2% in a specific year and failing to meet it in subsequent years.
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Retail sales in Japan contracted 4.4% on year in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Thursday - coming in at JPY11.011 trillion. That was shy of forecasts for a contraction of 3.3% following the 11% spike in the previous month. Analysts say that the drop was not unexpected, and it follows the enactment of the sales tax hike at the beginning of the month - as consumers tried to get in major purchases before the tax increase went into effect.
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US President Barack Obama admitted his frustration Wednesday that "there are no easy answers" for Syria, while disappointing expectations that he would announce US military support for the Syrian opposition. According to media reports, Obama had been expected to announce both weapons and US military training for moderate Syrian rebels as part of his major foreign policy speech at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York.
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Nearly a third of the world's population is overweight or obese, according to a study using data from more than 180 countries. The 857 million people that were overweight in 1980 increased to 2.1 billion in 2013 - appreciably faster than the rise in the world's population, according to the study "Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013." Conducted by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and published in the British journal The Lancet, the study states that the development applies equally to industrial and developing countries. More than half of overweight people live in 10 countries, which include the US, China, India, and Germany, it adds.
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Former army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi was sweeping Egypt's presidential poll with 96.8% of the vote in partial unofficial results. Counting got under way immediately after polls closed, and al-Hayat television reported figures from the first 3,000 counting centres putting al-Sissi on 7,367,632 votes. Al-Sissi's only opponent, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy, had 242,117 votes - 3.2% of the valid vote and less than the 317,167 spoilt ballots. Official results are not expected until June 5.
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US President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that America is the world's most important power but reinforced his conviction that military action is not needed to prove it. Speaking to graduating army officers at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, Obama outlined a "new chapter" of foreign strategy as the US combat role in Afghanistan comes to an end. "America must always lead on the world stage," Obama said. "If we don't, no one else will." The president dismissed domestic critics "who suggest that America is in decline" because he has not deployed the military for every emerging conflict. Obama accused them of "misreading history."
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Marine Le Pen's National Front joined forces with four other European parties Wednesday in a bid to create a new right-wing alliance tasked with hampering the EU's encroachment on national policies. "We will try to prevent any new advances by the EU, we will try to block with our votes any new advances to the detriment of populations," Le Pen said at the European Parliament in Brussels. Anti-establishment parties are jostling for influence in the legislature after making gains in European elections last week. Le Pen stunned mainstream French parties by coming in first with 26% of the vote.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: MERRILL LYNCH RESUMES WEIR GROUP WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 2850 PENCE
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TRADERS: CREDIT SUISSE CUTS NATIONAL GRID TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OUTPERFORM')
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UBS RAISES TALK TALK TELECOM TO 'NEUTRAL' ('SELL') - TARGET 310 (235) PENCE
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NOMURA RAISES THOMAS COOK TO 'NEUTRAL' ('REDUCE') - PRICE TARGET 173 (152) PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES AMEC WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 1450 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES JOHN WOOD WITH 'HOLD' - TARGET 714 PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES DAILY MAIL PRICE TARGET TO 985 (850) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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BP PLC has asked the US Supreme Court to step in after federal courts in New Orleans lifted an injunction blocking the payment of business claims for economic losses under the settlement that the oil company agreed for victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2012, the Financial Times reports. The newspaper says the company on Wednesday filed a request for the Supreme Court to block disputed compensation awards related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, warning that it faced “staggering” costs “far exceeding the actual injury caused by the spill” if payments were allowed to go ahead.
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Centrica PLC said British Gas boss Chris Weston is leaving the company to take up a post as chief executive of temporary power provider Aggreko PLC, leaving Centrica without its top three executives. The British energy supplier said Weston, who runs Centrica's International downstream division and joined the company in 2001, is subject to 12 months notice and a further announcement will be made soon regarding the timing of his departure and who will be his successor.
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B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher PLC reported a strong increase in its retail profit for the first quarter, helped by robust trading, a late Easter, favourable weather patterns, and encouraging trading signs in the UK and Poland. The weather helped drive strong seasonal gains at B&Q over the quarter, with an unseasonally pleasant early Spring in the UK, while also benefiting from increased project-related spend in the UK and Poland, and improving housing activity in the recovering UK housing market. Europe's largest home improvement retailer, which also owns and operates the brands Castorama and Brico Dépôt in France, posted a 19% increase in its retail profit of GBP142 million in the quarter ended May 3, up 20% in constant currency. Profit growth was driven by a 6.1% rise in sales on a reported basis, and a 9.2% increase at constant exchange rates. Retail profit is operating profit before central costs and exceptional items.
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Aircraft engine and marine propulsion maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC said it has won a deal worth about GBP35 million to design and equip a large offshore support vessel for Norwegian ship owner Island Offshore. In a statement, the British company said the vessel, named Island Victory, will be one of the largest vessels in Island Offshore's fleet. It will be built using its UT 797 CX design, which features a 250 ton offshore crane, remotely operated vessels and a large moonpool, enabling the vessel to perform heavy anchor handling operations and deep subsea installation work.
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Severn Trent FY Pretax Profit GBP282.7M Vs GBP200.2M; Revenue GBP1.86BN Vs GBP1.83BN; Increases Dividend 6% To 80.40 Pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Hedge fund manager Man Group PLC confirmed it is in talks to buy quantitative hedge fund specialist Numeric Holdings LLC. In a statement, the company said the talks are continuing and may or may not lead to a deal. Numeric is currently owned by its own senior partners, and private equity firm TA Associates, which has a minority stake it bought back in 2004.
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Paypoint FY Pretax Profit GBP46.0M Vs GBP41.3M; Revenue GBP212.2M Vs GBP208.5M; Dividend 35.3P Vs 30.4P; Says Current Year Trading In Line With Expectations
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Tate & Lyle FY Profit Flat At GBP273M; Revenue GBP3.15B Vs GBP3.26B; Total Dividend For The Year Up 5.3% To 27.6P Vs 26.2P; CEO: Will Continue To Face Sucralose Pricing Headwinds In Current Year
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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HML Holdings Buys Alan Foster & Assoc Property Managers For GBP361K In Cash
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PeerTV Signs Deal With US Company To Distribute Its Products In North America And Ireland
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Snoozebox Gets Deal To Supply Portable Hotel For 2015 Isle Of Man TT Race
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Belgravium Tech Chairman Says Trading Significantly Better Than Last Year, But Slower Than Expected; Wins Contract Worth About EUR500,000 With Airline
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Caza Oil & Gas Announces Good Results From Bone Spring Drilling Programme
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Helical Bar FY Pretax Profit GBP101.7M Vs GBP5.0M; Revenue GBP123.6M Vs GBP65.4M; Net Asset Value Per Share Up To 313 Pence Vs 264 Pence
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Oxford BioMedica To Raise GBP25.7M Via Placing And Open Offer At 2p Per Share
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Future To Sell Sport And Craft Titles To Immediate Media For Up To GBP24M
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RapidCloud FY Operating Profit MYR5M Vs MYR3.8M; Revenue MYR11.3M Vs MYR9.4M; To Pay Final Dividend Of MYR0.345 Per Share; Confident Of Further Strong Growth In Current Year
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Magnolia Petroleum Decides To Participate In 6 New Wells At Cost Of USD899,808; Sees Production Start At Parmley 1-1WH Well
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Fitbug Holdings FY Pretax Loss GBP2.7M Vs GBP1.5M Loss; Says Wider Loss Due To Investment In New Products
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Prime People FY Pretax Profit GBP1.1M, Up From GBP0.8M Year Earlier; Net Fee Income GB8.3M, Up From GBP7.6M Year Earlier; Full-Year Dividend 4.09p, Unchanged; Also Plans Cash Return Of 15p Per Share By Way Of Capital Reduction
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COMPANIES - OTHER
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Apple confirmed it is buying headphone maker and streaming music service Beats for USD3 billion. It is the biggest purchase ever for the iconic technology company, which has struggled to maintain growth since the 2011 death of co-founder Steve Jobs. "Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple," Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said. "That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world."
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Metminco
Trap Oil
Office2office
Smart Metering Systems
F&C Private Equity Trust
Lookers
Parity Group
Rexam
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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