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Petrol prices reach highest level this year as suppliers remain under investigation for price-fixing: Petrol prices are going up and have reached their highest level this year at 112p a litre, according to Government figures, confounding predictions that the price would soon drop below £1

Iran nuclear deal puts oil prices under further downward pressure: Oil prices have come under fresh pressure after the historic deal on Iran’s nuclear programme raised the prospect of the country being allowed to increase its crude exports.

Town Centre Securities a long term buy: Leeds based property investment fund Town Centre Securities has expanded its portfolio and secured key tenants making its shares a good long term investment. The company said last week that it spent £4.48m on new warehouses with secured tenants that provide a net initial yield of 7.25%. In a low interest environment that kind of return is attractive. The company has also recently renewed a contract until 2040 with its anchor tenant Morrisons’ at its biggest property holding the Merrion Centre in Leeds city centre. Morrisons’ will be investing to refurbish and expand the existing store on the site. The early refurbishment works have also started on Merrion House after Leeds City Council signed a 25 year lease for office space. Pretax profits increased to £13.3m for the six months ended December 31, from £12.3m in the comparable period. The net assets per share increased to 326p at the end of last year, leaving the shares trading at a 6% discount. Town Centre Securities property portfolio is split, with 58% in Leeds, 24% in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and 16% in Manchester. The company also has a small presence in London. The company offers a prospective dividend yield of 3.4%. Town Centre Securities at 232½p+8½. Questor says “Buy”.

Buy M&S shares as clothes recovery could spark dividend growth: Marks and Spencer shares shot to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board last Thursday as investors cheered the turnaround in the clothing business. This is an important moment for the investment case in Marks and Spencer as the clothing business has held it back with falling sales for almost four years. During that period the company was propped up by a strong performance from food sales. Now with both parts of the business increasing sales, and profit margins from clothing improving, then there is the prospect that dividends can begin to rise again, which could spark a rerating in the shares. The annual dividend has been held at 17p for four years. The retailer said that like-for-likes sales in its general merchandise arm rose 0.7% in the 13 weeks to March 28 beating market expectations for another 1.1% fall. That was a sharp improvement on the 5.8% decline in like-for-like sales during the third quarter, and the 2.9% like-for-like sales fall across the first half. This is an important moment for Marc Bolland, Chief executive, who put women’s clothing at the centre of his revival strategy. Even more encouragingly the company said the gross profit margins made from clothing should be up by 1.5 to 2%, during the year to about 54%. Kate Calvert, from broker Investec, thinks the clothing profit margin has further to go during the coming years. Marks & Spencer at 553.8p+23.3p. Questor says “Buy”.

Candy reaches for the sky with web satellite takeover: Property tycoon Nick Candy is branching out from luxury apartments to join the space race.

Oil prices were pressured earlier during the week amid concerns that talks over Iran’s nuclear program could result in easing of Western sanctions against the nation and allow it to boost its oil exports. However, the commodity rebounded after the EIA reported that US oil production fell to 9.39 million barrels per day in the week ended 27 March, the first decline in output since January. Brent crude oil prices lost 2.6% to $54.95/barrel

The price of Brent crude dropped $2.15 to $54.95 a barrel on the news which also suggests more oil coming on to already depressed markets. (Reuters)

SINGAPORE, April 2 (Reuters) - BP will cease production at its 102,000 barrels per day Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane in May, a spokeswoman said on Thursday. The company previously announced the closure of the refinery by mid-2015 as it restructures its struggling refining and marketing business in Australia. Australia's refineries, owned by BP, Royal Dutch Shell , ExxonMobil and Caltex, are facing strong competition in Asia and high costs. U.S. energy giant Chevron sold its entire stake in Australia's Caltex last month as falling oil prices and high costs hurt margins. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Growth in the construction industry in Britain slowed down in March, as uncertainty over May's general election weighed on sentiment. The monthly Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers' index declined 2.3 points in March to 57.8, having reached a four-month high in February, and remained below 61.8, the average for 2014 as a whole. According to data released on Thursday, all three main areas of construction activity lost momentum in March, with civil engineering registering the worst performance of the three sub-sectors, while housing was the best-performer of the three. Companies delayed spending decision ahead of May's general elections, leading to employment figures rising at their slowest pace since December 2013. Markit's monthly survey found that a sharp decline in the availability of sub-contractors hiked their charges by the largest amount since the survey began in April 1997, while costs were also affected by shortages of material supplies. However, confidence in the industry was growing, as construction firms said they were more confident about the next 12 months than at any point since February 2006. "There are grounds for optimism on the construction sector over the coming months, and it is notable that the purchasing managers showed confidence in the sector spiking to a nine-year high in March," said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight. "Economic growth is expected to be healthy overall which should be supportive to commercial construction activity and civil engineering."

Which demonstrates the huge potential for this technology once commercialised: The Directors believe that a non-invasive, strip-based technology to measure glucose in saliva could be transformative to both patients and the glucose monitoring industry and if successful, may become one of the monitoring techniques of choice.

Guinness and Smirnoff maker Diageo is buying out its joint venture (JV) partner in a traditional sorghum beer business in South Africa. The 50:50 JV, which owns the United National Breweries, was set up in January 2013 with Pestello Investments. Diageo has now decided to acquire Pestello's 50% stake for an initial payment of $22m and a potential earn-out payment of up to $14m.

Playtech Plc (PTEC.L) Announced that it has conditionally agreed to acquire a 91.1% fully-diluted stake in TradeFX Limited ("TradeFX"), an online CFDs and binary options broker and trading platform provider. The company further stated that the consideration payable comprises an initial cash payment of €208 million and an earn out payment of up to €250 million based on future performance.

A SUEDE SKIRT SAVES M&S Marks & Spencer said like-for-like clothing sales grew 0.7pc in the 13 weeks to March 28, bringing an end to 14 consecutive quarters of declining sales, thanks to a particularly popular suede skirt and a boost in online sales. Food sales also grew 0.7pc, beating the performance of Britain's "big four" supermarkets

Cairn Energy’s exploration potential flagged by analysts: Cairn Energy is best placed among stock market- listed European oil and gas firms to deliver success through exploration as budgets come under pressure following the slump in the crude price, analysts have said.

Strong demand for British buses and trains helps FirstGroup shrug off U.S. woes: Demand for FirstGroup’s British buses and trains helped the transport giant to offset a tougher time in the U.S.

PZ Cussons upgraded after milk deal: PZ Cussons, the Owner of PG Tips and Domestos bleach, has signed a deal to take full control of a milk joint venture in Nigeria. The FTSE 250-listed consumer goods company has paid £21 million in cash for Glanbia’s 50% stake in Nutricima, which makes evaporated milk and milk powder for the Nigerian market. The Nutricima business generated earnings of £74.4 million and pretax profits of £3.2 million in the 12 months to the end of May last year. Cussons’ sales in Nigeria have suffered amid unrest in the north of the country. The economy is also highly reliant on the price of oil, which has collapsed since June last year. This has caused a sharp devaluation in the value of the naira. The company has had a presence in Africa for more than 100 years and the region contributes about a third of the group’s profits. Cussons’ shares have performed well this year, rising by 11%, compared with a wider FTSE 250 that is up 6.5%. We downgraded the shares to an avoid last year as we waited until we saw the results of Nigeria’s election and how much profits have been impacted from the falling oil price. The election passed peacefully and we now wait for the trading update on June 11 to get a clearer picture of the profitability. The group has a proven track record over the long term, with a forecast dividend of 8p offering a prospective yield of 2.4%. The payout has increased 40% over the past four years and analysts expect it to increase by more than inflation in the future. The shares are highly rated, trading on 17.4 times forecast earnings, and there is still the issue of how the Nigerian economy will navigate much lower oil prices. However, given the improved political backdrop, we upgrade to a hold. PZ Cussons at 342p-½p. Questor Says “Hold”.

FirstGroup sees U.K. passenger growth: Shares in bus-to-rail operator FirstGroup have tumbled since it expanded in the U.S. in 2007. The company said that focusing on U.K. bus and rail franchises would enable it to hit market expectations for profits. Eight years ago, FirstGroup paid £1.9 billion for U.S. bus business Laidlaw, whose operations include Greyhound and yellow school buses. The deal left FirstGroup carrying too much debt as it headed into the 2008 financial crisis. FirstGroup was also forced to defend its credit rating with a deeply discounted rights issue in 2013. The shares have lost almost 90% of their value since 2008, falling from about £6 to 96p. FirstGroup generates about 45% of its revenues and 75% of its profits from the U.S. business, with the balance coming from U.K. bus and rail. The company missed out on the East Coast mainline rail franchise and lost the ScotRail contract last year, but was awarded the First Great Western rail operation last week. The shares, trading on 10 times forecast earnings, hold few attractions. FirstGroup at 97.1p+6.2p. Questor Says “Hold”.

U.S. suffers industrial slowdown as oil price shock bites: United States manufacturing growth slowed to its weakest pace since May 2013 last month, adding to fears that the economy’s struggles are down to more than just a patch of bad weather

So long, StanChart: Popular activities for those quitting the office in their mid-50s include improving their golf handicap, learning a musical instrument, gardening and travel. Not so, Viswanathan Shankar. Standard Chartered’s head of everywhere-except-Asia, is leaving to fulfil his long-held dream to set up a private equity group. Mr Shankar’s decision has implications for the bank he leaves behind. When the finance Director is newish, the Chairman is leaving next year, the Chief Executive is counting the weeks and another Executive Director the days, those with corporate memory have great value. So Mr Shankar’s departure will increase the pressure for Mike Rees, deputy Chief Executive, to stay while Bill Winters’ new regime gets going. Mr Shankar’s exit also means that StanChart comes down to a mere — and mainstream — three Executive Directors on a 15-strong board. The presence of as many as six Executives on the board has become a sore point with investors. Temasek, StanChart’s single biggest shareholder, has twice failed to support the re-election of a clutch of Executive Directors. Still, as Mr Winters begins to turn the bank round, he is likely to welcome anything that eases investor relations.

Asos faces margin pressure as online fashion becomes less forgiving: It was originally “As Seen On Screen”. But in the past year Asos could have stood for “Airborne Stock Only Sometimes”. Three profit warnings have buffeted a share price that once seemed to have adopted “onwards and upwards” as its motto. Asos is also relying on an increase in volumes of 15-20% this year to enable it to strike better deals all around. Even so, the continuing need to invest in distribution in continental Europe and the U.S. will mean that the improvement will probably be “stop, start” rather than unbroken progress. On the high street websites too, brands are improving their own online businesses. Asos says fashion brands selling through third parties as well as their own outlets is nothing new — just think department stores. That does not quite work as an argument for investing in the group. First, a wider choice of third-party sites, such as Next’s Labels operation, is becoming available. Second, once you have chosen a potential purchase on a third-party site, it is hardly any effort to click on the branded site to see if it is available more cheaply or even more desirably there. Third, the U.K. department store model exemplified by Debenhams and House of Fraser has hardly been a beacon of consistent investment excellence. So even as Asos can claim that profit warnings are last year’s fad, it is operating in a tougher environment. At Wednesday’s close of £37.35 it is trading on a 2015 p/e ratios of about 80 times. This looks far racier — and far less appealing — than the outfits it sells.