YouGov Share News (YOU)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Banking shares received a big boost Friday, after the UK financial regulator confirmed it will start a consultation on imposing a two-year deadline for claims on mis-sold payment protection insurance.

Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland shares were the three top blue-chip gainers in early trade.

Experian saw its shares sold down 4.7%. Some 15 million US customers of mobile network operator T-Mobile could have had their personal data stolen after hackers attacked the FTSE 100 credit data agency.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: up 0.8% at 6,120.17
FTSE 250: up 0.4% at 16,822.63
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 728.31
----------
Hang Seng: up 2.9% at 21,444.75
Nikkei 225: closed flat at 17,725.13
DJIA: closed down 0.1% at 16,272.01
S&P 500: closed up 0.2% at 1,923.82
----------
GBP: up at USD1.5151
EUR: down at USD1.1167

GOLD: down at USD1,108.82 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD48.38 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

09:30 UK PMI Construction
10:00 EU Producer Price Index
13:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, Average Hourly Earnings
14:45 US ISM New York index
15:00 US Factory Orders
18:00 US Fed's Stanley Fischer speech
----------
Eurozone growth is returning, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said at an event in New York. "The progress achieved over the past three years to stabilise and strengthen the euro area is real," he said. "Growth is returning." "The way forward is well identified. And we will not rest until our monetary union is complete," he added.
----------
The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.4% in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. That was above forecasts for 3.3%, which would have been unchanged from the July reading.
----------
US President Barack Obama blamed pro-gun lobbies and their supporters for the US' latest gun massacre, in which 10 people were slain at a rural north-western community college. Obama called on Americans to demand "common-sense" gun control laws from Congress. "This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America," he said. Speaking in the White House briefing room to respond to a mass shooting for what US news outlets reported was the 15th time of his presidency, a visibly angry Obama took legislators to task for failing to enact laws to help keep guns out of the hands of killers.
----------
US and Russian defense officials held talks aimed at preventing misunderstandings between their forces over Syria as Russian warplanes mounted airstrikes against targets in the war-torn country for a second day. The talks came as opposition groups said the Russian raids targeted rebels who have fought both Syrian government forces and Islamic State militants. Russia's Defence Ministry said its jets had mounted 12 strikes against Islamic State targets in the last 24 hours in Syria. The US has expressed doubts that the Russian strikes are solely targeting Islamic State militants.
----------
European governments need to find a common solution for the migrant crisis, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, calling for increased pressure to solve the Syrian conflict, one of the main causes of the flow of refugees. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Steinmeier said that Germany has already taken in 600,000 refugees since the beginning of the year and with up to 10,000 new arrivals every day, the country won't be able to handle the situation on its own. "We need a European solution together with our European neighbours," he said.
----------
Forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led military alliance, regained the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait from Iran-backed rebels, a military official said. Unspecified casualties occurred on both sides, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
---------
Numis Ups Schroders To Buy From Add, Cuts Price Target To 3,429p From 3,689p
----------
JEFFERIES CUTS DS SMITH TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
----------
PANMURE RAISES TRINITY MIRROR TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 240 (150) PENCE
----------
Cantor Fitzgerald Initiates Clipper Logistics At Hold, Price Target At 265p
----------
Numis Ups YouGov To Buy From Add, Keeps Price Target of 142p
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority said it is opening a consultation on introducing a deadline for consumers to make complaints on mis-sold payment protection insurance or lose their rights to have the claims assessed by firms or by the Financial Ombudsman Service. Confirming recent press speculation, the City regulator said it intends to consult on a deadline which would fall two years from the date the proposed rule would come into force which, subject to the consultation, would not be before spring 2016, meaning consumers would have until at least spring 2018 to make their complaints. Banks have already set aside close to GBP30 billion for PPI mis-selling compensation, with the state-backed Lloyds Banking Group responsible for almost half that sum.
----------
Some 15 million US customers of mobile network operator T-Mobile could have had their personal data stolen, the company said, after hackers attacked credit data agency Experian. The hackers accessed Experian's records about consumers who applied for T-Mobile USA postpaid services between September 2013 and September 2015, the two firms said. T-Mobile USA chief executive Legere wrote that he was "incredibly angry" about the breach and would review the company's relationship with Experian.
----------
JPMorgan Chase & Co is set to pay almost a third of a USD1.86 billion settlement to resolve claims that a dozen big banks conspired to limit competition in the credit-default swaps market, the Bloomberg reported, citing people briefed on terms of the deal. JPMorgan is paying USD595 million, the report said, citing people who asked not to be identified because the firms haven't disclosed how they're splitting costs. Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are paying about USD230 million, USD175 million and USD164 million, respectively, the report said.
----------
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group has applied for a banking licence for its Williams & Glyn business, the bank it is understood to be planning to float in London in the second half of 2016, The Daily Telegraph reported. Williams & Glyn, which was spun-off from RBS under the terms of its government bailout in 2008, is preparing for a high street launch next year, the Telegraph said.
----------
Insurer and investment manager Legal & General Group said it has secured an agreement with the US arm of Dutch electronics company Royal Philips to provide retirement payments under a group annuity contract. The contract will cover around 14,000 Philips employees in the US and will cut the company's pension obligations when the contract transfers in December. L&G said the transfer of the USD900.0 million in retiree pension obligations will be split between Legal & General America and The Prudential Insurance Company of America, with each insurer providing 50% of the total monthly benefits.
----------
BP is holding talks about returning to the Iranian market, which could see the oil company invest billions in the country where it was founded more than a century ago, The Times reported. Executives from BP visited Tehran for talks in September, a spokesman for the company confirmed to the paper. "BP has met with industry officials," the spokesman said. "The details of those discussions are confidential. We have said for some time that we would be interested in reviewing opportunities in Iran once sanctions permit it," he added.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
FirstGroup said it is trading in line with its expectations so far in its 2016 financial year, with a continued strong performance in its UK rail business in the second quarter and progress on its plans for its other units. The transport company said its UK rail business delivered further strong passenger revenue growth and financial performance in the half year to the end of September, in line with the robust trading in the division in the first quarter. FirstGroup said its UK bus business also saw commercial revenue growth and made progress on cost cuts, but this was partially offset by lower concession revenue in the half.
----------
Electrocomponents said revenue growth slowed in the second quarter amid continued weakness in the UK and worse conditions in the North American market. The company, which makes electronic, automation and control components, said its group revenue growth in the second quarter to the end of September was 3.0%, slowed from the 5.0% growth in the first quarter and dragging first-half revenue growth down to 4.0%.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
Volkswagen announced a slight increase in sales for September, up 0.06% from the same month a year ago, despite cloud hanging over the German auto giant due to a far-reaching scandal over exhaust test cheating. VW sold 26,141 vehicles last month, up from 25,996 in September 2014. Sales were halted on all VW's models involved in the diesel exhaust affair in mid-September. VW's luxury subsidiary, Audi, which has been likewise implicated the exhaust cheating scandal, saw its sales rise by 16% in the month due to demand for sport-utility vehicles. Audi sold 17,340 vehicles in September in the US.
----------
Overall, US auto sales continued to hum along in September, as the industry appeared to be cruising toward some of its strongest sales in years. Among US carmakers, General Motors was up 12% for the month, while Ford was up 23%. Fiat Chrysler's sales were up 14%. Toyota, the world's number one auto maker, saw sales rise 16%. Nissan, Hyundai and Honda were up 18, 14 and 13% respectively.
If sales continue apace, the industry could move up to 18 million vehicles in 2015 in the US, the most since 2000.
----------
Amazon.com announced that it will stop selling streaming devices from Google and Apple. The Online retail giant sent an e-mail to its marketplace sellers that it will stop selling the Apple TV and Google's Chromecast and Nexus player since those devices don't "interact well" with Prime Video.
----------
Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Atlantis Japan Growth Fund
Synergy Health
Abbey
Henderson Smaller Cos Investment Trust
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.