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LONDON (Alliance News) - Aerospace stocks BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce Holdings led blue-chip gainers early Monday, as UK Prime Minister David Cameron is set to announced a GBP178.0 billion investment in defence equipment and support over the next decade.

The plans specifically include BAE's Typhoon fighter jet. Rolls-Royce also is set to outline its restructuring plans on Tuesday.

Among mid-caps, Playtech was the biggest faller, down 11%, after saying it has pulled out of buying Plus500 and its deal to acquire Ava Trade also is at risk. Plus500 shares were down 9.3%.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.7% at 6,287.90
FTSE 250: down 0.4% at 17,113.81
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 728.97
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.4% at 22,665.90
Nikkei 225: market closed for holiday.
DJIA: closed up 0.5% at 17,823.81
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 2,089.17
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GBP: down at USD1.5155 (USD1.5200)
EUR: soft at USD1.0627 (USD1.0654)

GOLD: down at USD1,071.28 per ounce (USD1,077.80)
OIL (Brent): down at USD43.85 a barrel (USD44.55)

(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 GMT)

Japan Labor Thanksgiving Day
EU Eurogroup meeting

08:30 Germany Markit Manufacturing, Services and Composite PMI Preliminary
09:00 EU Markit Manufacturing, Services 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
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UK Prime Minister David Cameron is set to announced a GBP178.0 billion investment in defence equipment and support over the next decade when he outlines the findings from the Strategic Defence and Security Review later Monday. The new budget represents a GBP12.0 billion uplift in total funding for defence equipment and will focus on investments which will help the UK "respond to diverse threats in an increasingly dangerous and uncertain world", according to a statement from the Ministry of Defence. The investment will include nine new Boeing P8 maritime patrol aircraft and an extension to the UK's multi-role Typhoon jets, built by BAE Systems, for another decade through to 2040, allowing the Ministry of Defence to create two extra squadrons. There will also be an investment in ground attack capabilities for the Typhoons.
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Belgian police arrested 16 terrorism suspects in a major security sweep across Brussels, prosecutors said early Monday in the capital. The massive operation saw 19 raids carried out late Sunday across Brussels, plus three search warrants carried out in the city of Charleroi. A judge was to decide later Monday if the suspects can be held. No weapons or explosives were found in the police sweep. Brussels has been under the highest terrorism alert since Saturday.
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Efforts to stamp out terrorism and violent extremism must be redoubled, said 18 world leaders at the East Asia Summit, pointing to a recent string of violent attacks that have claimed scores of lives around the world. "In this summit we reaffirmed our commitment. There was a sense we have to do more, we have to act together and we have to redouble our effort to make sure that we can stamp out violent extremism," said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak at a press briefing at the end of the two-day conference in Kuala Lumpur. Aside from terrorism, leaders from the 10-member ASEAN group and from the US, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Russia, New Zealand and Australia, also conducted extensive talks on the South China Sea disputes.
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US President Barack Obama said that acts of terrorism will not stop the world from taking urgent action on global climate change at talks in Paris next month. The US and its coalition allies would ultimately destroy the Islamic State, but the world should not show fear of terrorism, Obama said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur for the summit.
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Malian authorities were on a manhunt Saturday for accomplices related to this week's terrorist attack on a Bamako hotel in which at least 20 died, saying that the two found dead at the scene would have needed further assistance. An Interior Ministry spokesman told dpa that the assumption was that the two men could not have pulled off such an attack by themselves. During Friday's attack, 170 people were taken hostage at the US-owned Radisson Blu hotel by a group of people claiming ties to terrorist group al-Qaeda. Malian forces eventually stormed the hotel, resulting in the deaths of the two alleged hostage-takers. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said on national TV Saturday that 21 people died, among them two terrorists.
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Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri was elected president Sunday, in a runoff vote that signalled a shift in the political direction of the country. The centre-right Macri, 56, rode the wave of a surprisingly good first-round performance last month - when he finished closer-than-expected second. Nearly 52% of the voters opted for him Sunday as a credible alternative to 12 years of government by the leftist Kirchner couple.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP RAISES IMPERIAL TOBACCO TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL')
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UBS RAISES OCADO TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 480 PENCE
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BARCLAYS CUTS EVRAZ TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL WEIGHT') - TARGET 55 (100) PENCE
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GOLDMAN SACHS INITIATES WORLDPAY GROUP WITH 'NEUTRAL' - 320 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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AstraZeneca said it has agreed to sell the US rights to its Crohn's disease medicine Entocort to Irish over-the-counter pharmaceuticals manufacturer Perrigo Co for up to USD380 million. The deal follows on from a previous deal to sell the rights to Entocort outside of the US to Tillotts Pharma AG, part of the Zeria Group, in July.
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Dow Jones and Pearson late on Friday said they plan to divest their stakes in Russian newspaper Vedomosti to the Kudryavtsev family. Damian Kudryavtsev is the former publisher of Kommersant. Spokespeople for the two companies said: "We are very proud of the work we have done with Vedomosti and our contribution to independent press in Russia for the past 15 years. Due to the newly passed law limiting foreign ownership of media organizations in Russia, Dow Jones and Pearson have entered into an agreement to divest their stakes in Vedomosti." The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year, when the new law takes effect.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Playtech said it has terminated its agreement to acquire contracts-for-difference broker Plus500 over concerns it will not be able to secure UK Financial Conduct Authority approval before the end of 2015, and warned that the collapse of the Plus500 deal increases the risk that its purchase of Ava Trade also may get cancelled. In response, Plus500 outlined its plans for an independent future, proposing an interim dividend of USD0.2121 per share, and a share buyback programme. Playtech said it will not incur any penalties in relation to terminating the Plus500 deal and said it has no "immediate plans" in regards to its 9.9% stake in Plus500. If the Ava Trade deal is terminated, Playtech would lose its non-refundable USD5 million deposit already paid, but would incur no financial penalty.
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A number of private equity firms are considering making GBP1.0 billion takeover bids for Home Retail Group, the owner of catalogue retailer Argos and DIY and garden centre chain Homebase, The Sunday Times reported. Several retail industry figures have been asked to advise on potential bids for the company in the wake of the profit warning that Home Retail issued in October, which it blamed on uncertainty around Black Friday promotions.
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Outsourcing company Mitie Group said its pretax profit rose in the first half due to restructuring charges booked a year earlier not repeating, but its headline profit was weaker due to tougher conditions for its healthcare business. The group said its pretax profit for the first half to the end of September was GBP45.1 million, compared to a GBP1.3 million loss booked a year earlier due to restructuring charges it booked as it restructured itself into a services-focused business. Stripping out one-offs, however, pretax profit fell to GBP50.1 million from GBP57.0 million in the half due to weaker conditions for Mitie's healthcare business, which was hit by unprofitable contracts the group has now exited. Mitie will pay an interim dividend of 5.4 pence, up from 5.2 pence.
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SEGRO said it has acquired a portfolio of three fully-let logistics buildings in the Netherlands for EUR92.7 million from a private Dutch developer Dok Vast. The portfolio totals 104,000 square meters of space. Two of the buildings, accounting for 95,400 square meters, are less than three years old and are let to Nokia and Tesla Motors. SEGRO said the price it paid equates to a net initial yield of 6.1%.
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Ball Corp late Friday reiterated that it expects to obtain all regulatory clearances for its GBP4.3 billion acquisition of rival beverage can maker Rexam to close at some stage during the first half of 2016. Ball maintained that guidance as it confirmed that the European Commission has entered into a period of market testing based upon commitments proposed by the two companies.
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BGEO Group, previously Bank of Georgia Holdings, said it remains "well positioned" to deliver a strong performance for its full year, as it saw a rise in profit for its third quarter. The company, which is the London-listed holding company of Georgia’s leading bank JSC Bank of Georgia and its subsidiaries, said its profit in the third quarter to end-September was GEL91.2 million, up 24.3% from GEL73.4 million a year before, on revenue of GEL216.6 million, up from GEL159.2 million.
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Natural resources investment company Riverstone Energy said it it seeking to raise GBP65.0 million through a placing and open offer. Riverstone said the number of shares which will be issued and the price on the offer will be determined at the close of the bookbuild for the placing, due to take place on Monday morning. Riverstone said the funds will be used to increase its stake in Canadian International Oil Corp, an existing portfolio company, to 16% from the current 14%.
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Retirement products providers Just Retirement Group and Partnership Assurance Group said their proposed merger will now completed in early January, rather than in late December as originally anticipated. The pair, which will merge to former JRP Group, said a decision on Just Retirement's Solvency II Internal Model application is due from the Prudential Regulation Authority, the UK financial regulator, in the first half of December. As a result, they will post their shareholder circulars on the proposed merger after this process is complete, meaning they now expect the merger to complete in early January.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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French electronics retailer Groupe Fnac agreed to acquire Darty in a deal that means shareholders in the London-listed electronics company will receive one Fnac share for every 37 shares they hold in Darty, the companies said late on Friday. Based on the EUR55.6 closing price of Fnac shares on Thursday, the deal values Darty at GBP558.0 million, equating to 105 pence per share.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Pfizer and Allergan are set to strike a merger deal worth more than USD150 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. The report indicated that the final terms of the deal include 11.3 Pfizer shares for every Allergan share. The deal also contains a small cash component. The boards of each company are expected to approve the agreement Sunday and it could be announced Monday. The takeover would be the largest so-called inversion ever. Such deals enable a US company to move abroad and take advantage of a lower corporate tax rate elsewhere, and have remained popular in the face of US efforts to curb them.
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Alibaba Group Holding is looking to sell its stake in China's leading online provider of movie ticketing, restaurant bookings and other on-demand services as it builds a competing platform of its own, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. The report noted that Alibaba is shopping its roughly 7% stake in the company created by last month's merger of two rival startups: Meituan.com and Dianping Holdings, whose respective group-buying and restaurant-booking services are similar to those of Groupon and Yelp of the US
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Embattled German carmaker Volkswagen late on Friday submitted a recall plan to the US for 480,000 cars that disputed software installed, the California Air Resources Board confirmed. The submission arrived just ahead of the Friday midnight deadline. The recall affects cars with 2-litre engines from models made in the years 2009-2015.
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Just Retirement
JPMorgan Smaller Companies Investment Trust
PME African Infrastructure Opportunities
Goldenport Holdings
Aeorema Communications
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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