London close: East meets West as Nikkei picks up FT

(ShareCast News) - The sale of the FT Group by Japan's Nikkei livened up an otherwise lacklustre day in terms of economic data or news-flow.In an e-mail sent to subscribers Nikkei announced the £837m deal, which analysts saw as a bold bid by the Asian media group to break out of its home market.The Footsie ended the day 12.33 points lower at 6,655.01.Central banks back in focusActing as a backdrop, markets' focus was slowly shifting towards next week's US Fed policy meeting, as some analysts began to ponder the potential scenarios should the central bank flag its intention to raise rates in September.On a related note, in an exclusive interview with Market News International the Monetary Policy Committee's Ian Mc Cafferty said the MPC's "clear cut" 8 July decision not to raise Bank Rate was adopted just when the uncertainty around events in Greece was at its height, but since then confidence in the euro area had improved.The rate-setter, a well-known hawk on the MPC, placed weight on the strength seen in total UK earnings while emphasising the central bank should not fear an appreciation in sterling in reaction to a rate hike.Data out earlier in the day revealed that the volume of retail sales in the UK unexpectedly dropped in June at a 0.2% month-on-month pace (consensus: 0.4%).Nonetheless, analysts at Barclays were dismissive, telling clients that: "Given that we expect the increase in claimant count to be temporary only, taking into account the strength in GfK consumer confidence and highlighting that the higher frequency momentum is positive, we believe that this month's weakness in retail sales will be reversed next month."More ECB QE in store?Overnight, Greece's parliament gave its approval to a new package of economic reforms, clearing the way for the start of negotiations on a third bail-out package.Commenting on the vote, which took place in the early hours of Thursday morning, Barclays said: "We think the situation in Greece will remain fluid and the implementation of the third bailout will be challenging. More worrisome, we think the Greek crisis has this time altered the irreversibility of the monetary union, which will require action to speed up integration, along the lines of the 'Five Presidents report'.With inflation in the Eurozone set to remain below its target for longer than expected and as the Greek crisis rolled on Barclays added that the European Central Bank would be forced to extend its programme of bond buying beyond the expected end date of September 2016."Pearson set to hive off FT GroupJapan's Nikkei has bought the Financial Times and associated business titles from Pearson for £844m. Alex Springer had been said to be leading the running for the purchase, according several reports, including the Financial Times' own story on talks. Fallon said the agreement did not include FT Group's London property at One Southwark Bridge nor Pearson's 50% stake in The Economist Group.Shares in Aberdeen Asset Management fell sharply after the company reported net outflows in the nine months to 30 June of £9.9bn, as institutional investors continue to reduce exposure to Asia and emerging markets equities.Sales slowed in the first quarter at SABMiller as declines in Europe, Asia Pacfic and North America held back drinks volume growth in Latin America and Africa. Group net producer revenue (NPR) grew by 3% on flat beverage volumes, down from the 5% growth seen last year.Kingfisher, which owns home improvement retailer B&Q, delivered a solid second-quarter sales performance across all its major businesses, albeit against softer comparatives than in the first quarter. In its pre-close update for the 10 weeks to 11 July, the company posted a 4.8% rise in total sales at constant currency, or 3.5% in like-for-like terms.Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to dispose a portfolio of loans as part of a move to strengthen its balance sheet. The bank will receive around £400m offloaded to an entity funded by Deutsche Bank and funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, trousering a profit of around £24m after costs.Britvic announced the acquisition of Brazilian soft drinks company Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos (Ebba) for around £113.6m. The transaction, which will be partly funded from the proceeds of a placing of new ordinary shares, provides Britvic with immediate access to the sixth largest soft drinks market and the largest concentrates market globally.SSE reported increased production in all of its divisions apart from coal, as the company said it expects lower profits from its energy supply business this year but higher profit from its management and generation business.Market MoverstechMARK 3,179.26 +0.57%FTSE 100 6,655.01 -0.18%FTSE 250 17,619.10 -0.15%FTSE 100 - RisersARM Holdings (ARM) 1,015.00p +4.64%Shire Plc (SHP) 5,640.00p +3.20%Pearson (PSON) 1,234.00p +2.07%Kingfisher (KGF) 374.40p +2.02%Unilever (ULVR) 2,905.00p +1.61%Persimmon (PSN) 1,987.00p +1.48%Severn Trent (SVT) 2,158.00p +1.41%CRH (CRH) 1,899.00p +1.23%United Utilities Group (UU.) 885.50p +1.20%Relx plc (REL) 1,104.00p +1.01%FTSE 100 - FallersAberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 369.10p -7.61%SSE (SSE) 1,507.00p -5.04%Glencore (GLEN) 220.05p -3.49%Ashtead Group (AHT) 974.50p -3.23%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 266.60p -2.20%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 353.40p -1.78%Standard Chartered (STAN) 978.70p -1.72%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 527.00p -1.50%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,545.00p -1.47%BP (BP.) 401.00p -1.38%FTSE 250 - RisersAO World (AO.) 129.00p +6.17%Acacia Mining (ACA) 243.70p +4.73%Ted Baker (TED) 3,190.00p +3.20%Betfair Group (BET) 2,703.00p +2.54%Spectris (SXS) 1,973.00p +2.49%Redefine International (RDI) 54.95p +2.14%Bellway (BWY) 2,375.00p +1.98%Man Group (EMG) 155.60p +1.97%Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,311.00p +1.94%Countrywide (CWD) 541.00p +1.69%FTSE 250 - FallersHowden Joinery Group (HWDN) 474.80p -8.34%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 330.20p -7.17%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 173.40p -6.82%Tullow Oil (TLW) 249.50p -3.74%Cairn Energy (CNE) 164.00p -3.64%Drax Group (DRX) 261.50p -3.36%Premier Oil (PMO) 135.60p -3.35%Genus (GNS) 1,445.00p -3.28%Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 390.00p -3.23%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 278.80p -2.96%