LONDON BRIEFING: Shares Firm Ahead Of Central Banker Speeches

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares prices were firm early Friday, with a continued focus on comments by European and US central bankers as markets look ahead to monetary policy decisions due in December.

Among blue chips, drinks maker Diageo was up 1.3% after the stock was raised to Overweight from Neutral by JPMorgan. In the FTSE 250, miner Vedanta Resources was down 2.4% after being downgraded to Neutral from Buy by Swiss bank UBS.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6,345.53
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 17,155.39
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 730.59
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Hang Seng: closed up 1.1% at 22,754.72
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.1% at 19,879.81
DJIA: closed flat at 17,732.75
S&P 500: closed down 0.1% at 2,081.24
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GBP: down at USD1.5273 (USD1.5326)
EUR: down at USD1.0692 (USD1.0751)

GOLD: down at USD1,080.60 per ounce (USD1,083.64)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD44.22 a barrel (USD44.25)

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

09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
10:15 Germany Buba President Weidmann speech
13:30 Canada Retail Sales
13:30 Canada Consumer Price Index
14:00 US Fed's Bullard speech
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
16:00 US Kansas Fed manufacturing activity
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Germany's producer prices declined at the fastest pace since early 2010, data published by Destatis showed. Producer prices decreased 2.3% in October from last year, the biggest fall since February 2010, when prices declined 3%. Producer prices have been falling since August 2013. Economists had forecast prices to fall 2% after easing 2.1% in September.
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Japan's economy is expected to continue recovering moderately, the Bank of Japan said in its monthly report. The bank reiterated that exports and industrial production are set to remain more or less flat for the time being, but after that, they are likely to increase moderately.
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France, seeking political support in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group, submitted a draft resolution the UN Security Council that condemns recent terror attacks and calls for a redoubling of counter-terrorism efforts. France hopes for the resolution to be adopted as soon as possible, maybe in the coming days, a spokesman for the French UN mission said. It calls on countries to "redouble and coordinate their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed" by the extremist group and "to eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria." The French measure comes after Russia circulated a resolution on Wednesday highlighting the "need to join efforts" in the fight against Islamic State. The Russian text "includes both coordination and joint work to locate and bring to justice those responsible for terror attacks," Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the UN, told TASS Russian News Agency on Wednesday.
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Top US law enforcement officials said they were not aware of any credible threat to the US similar to the attacks that took place last week in Paris. FBI Director James Comey told reporters that Americans should not live in fear, but should remain vigilant and inform law enforcement if they see anything suspicious. The statements come a day after Islamic State released a propaganda video saying Times Square in New York City and other landmarks in the city would be the next targets.
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The US House of Representatives passed legislation to require tightened checks of Syrian refugees, in the wake of last week's Paris attacks by suspected Islamic State terrorists. The measure must first pass the Senate before going to President Barack Obama, who has threatened to veto the bill. Obama is seeking to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees by September 2016.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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UBS CUTS SOUTH32 TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 67 (110) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES DIAGEO TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL') - PRICE TARGET 2140 (1850) PENCE
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GOLDMAN RAISES INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP PRICE TARGET TO 775 (755) PENCE - 'BUY'
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MERRILL LYNCH CUTS JIMMY CHOO TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 165 (195) PENCE
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NOMURA RAISES IMI TO 'BUY' ('REDUCE') - TARGET 955 (1000) PENCE
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UBS CUTS VEDANTA TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 400 (600) PENCE
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CITIGROUP CUTS COUNTRYWIDE TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 425 (615) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Defence contractor BAE Systems on Thursday said it has been awarded a GBP1.3 billion contract to handle the delivery of the fifth Astute Class submarine for the UK's Ministry of Defence. BAE said the contract will include the design and remaining build, test and commissioning work on the fifth submarine, called Anson. The submarine is now at an advanced stage and is on schedule to leave BAE's Cumbria site for sea trials in 2020.
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US activist investor ValueAct has doubled its stake in engines and power systems manufacturer Rolls-Royce Holdings, according to a stock exchange filing Thursday, only a week after the aero engine group issued a substantial warning about its outlook for 2016. The move, which sees the San Francisco-based hedge fund increase its holding in the company to 10%, comes ahead of Rolls-Royce releasing details of its comprehensive restructuring programme, due to be presented on Tuesday.
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AstraZeneca said it has directly exchanged 210,000 chemical compounds with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi from their respective compound libraries. The company said the swap "enhances the chemical diversity of the compound collections of both companies and allows each to screen a broader, more diverse chemical space as the starting point in the search for new small-molecule medicines."
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Precision instrumentation and controls manufacturer Spectris said its like-for-like sales have fallen so far in the second half, leaving it anticipating its 2015 adjusted operating profit will come in at the low end of market expectations. The company, which makes materials analysis and testing and measurement systems, said said like-for-like sales in the four months to the end of October were down 1.0%, primarily due to worsening trading conditions in its markets.
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Melrose Industries said sales for its recently-sold Elster Group business rose in the first ten months of 2015, while sales for its Brush business continued to slump. Thegroup said sales for Elster, the energy-metering business it has sold to US conglomerate Honeywell Inc for GBP3.3 billion in cash, saw sales rise 14% in constant currencies in the ten months to the end of October. Melrose said the sale of the business to Honeywell is set to close in the first quarter of 2016. Brush, its electricity generation unit and its only remaining business following the Elster sale, saw sales fall 26% in constant currencies in the first ten months, due to tough market conditions.
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The UK Takeover Panel late Thursday said VPS Healthcare Group has until 1700 GMT on December 8 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Al Noor Hospitals Group or walk away. Abu Dhabi-based VPS is one of three potential suitors for private hospital group Al Noor, the other two being South Africa's Mediclinic International and London-listed NMC Health.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Fuller, Smith & Turner reported a rise in profit in the first half of its financial year, as it achieved growth in each of its divisions and said it looks forward to the rest of the financial year with optimism. The West London-based brewer and publican said its pretax profit in the 26 weeks ended September 26 grew to GBP21.2 million from GBP18.3 million in the same period the year before, as revenue rose 10% to GBP177.7 million from GBP161.6 million. Fuller will pay an interim dividend of 6.9 pence, an 8% increase on the 6.4p paid the prior year.
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Retirement products company Partnership Assurance Group said it has struck a deal with a unit of US insurer Genworth Financial to launch a medically-underwritten immediate annuity in the US market. The new product would be similar to Partnership's UK Care Annuity product and is planned for launch in the first quarter of 2016. Partnership is currently in the process of merging with larger FTSE 250 rival Just Retirement Group. Partnership will hold a shareholder meeting about the deal on Thursday next week.
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HaloSource warned it will post a net loss for 2015 higher than market expectations as a result of delays in some customer rollouts and some operational challenges. The clean water technology company said operational challenges had arisen as it increased manufacturing capacity at its drinking water facility in China, which has temporarily hit its ability to fulfil customer orders and subsequently will reduce its revenue in this segment in the second half of 2015.
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Temporary accommodation provider Snoozebox Holdings said it has signed a strategic agreement with the Dutco Group, a Dubai-based conglomerate, to give it an entry to the Gulf market. The company said it expects demand for its accommodation to be robust during forthcoming events in the region, including the Dubai Expo 2020 and the World Cup in Qatar in 2020.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Allergan and Pfizer are considering structuring a merger of the drug companies so that it is an acquisition of Pfizer by Allergan, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. However the deal is technically structured, the much larger Pfizer will effectively be buying the Dublin-based Allergan and assuming a lower offshore tax jurisdiction. Allergan shareholders would receive a premium and end up with 40% to 45% of the combined company. The deal is expected to be mainly in stock, but it could contain a small cash component, the report said.
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Nike announced a USD12 billion share repurchase program, a 14% increase in its quarterly dividend and a two-for-one stock split. Nike's board approved a new four-year, USD12 billion share repurchase program. The company expects the current USD8 billion program to be completed before the end of fiscal 2016, and the new program to begin at completion of the current program. Nike also increased its dividend by 14% to USD0.32 per share, on a pre-split basis.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Gresham House (re Aitchesse acquisition)
Celtic
Crystal Amber Fund
The People's Operator
Plutus Powergen
Henderson International Income Trust
Ibex Global Solutions
Red Emperor Resources
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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