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At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.01% or $0.58 lower at $56.93 per barrel. Yesterday, the contract climbed 0.81% or $0.46, to settle at $57.51 per barrel, after a power outage closed the UK’s largest oil field in the North Sea. Meanwhile, WTI oil ended at a three-month low

Initial results suggest, that the chalcocite and covellite dominant copper mineral are suitable for bacterially assisted acid-ferric heap leaching while recoveries of total copper greater than 95% are possible. During the column leach test work there was little breakdown of the rock while levels of acid consumption were low; both of these reduce the processing risk and support the low cost potential for BKM. Further test work will seek to define the leachable parts of the resource and confirm these initial findings for a scoping study. Given the restrictions on the export of unprocessed ores and concentrates from Indonesia it is vital that KLG be able to produce copper metal. I believe that these initial findings demonstrate that this will be the case, further de-risking and confirming the low cost potential of the BKM project. I would expect a re-rating of the company will begin as the next Resource upgrade is with us in late August/early September

Singapore firm builds Galliard with £50 million stake: Singaporean property developer Oxley Holdings has bought a 20% stake in Galliard Group for £50 billion in a bid to expand within London.

Avoid Admiral until its growth path is clearer: Ahead of the insurance sector’s interim results next month, Questor takes a look at Admiral, one of the more colourful firms in the car insurance market. When Admiral sets out its half-year earnings on August 19, it could be the last time that Henry Engelhardt presents the figures. The American who helped to found the firm is due to leave before next May, ending 25 years in charge. Admiral was among the first car insurers to raise prices in late 2014. Several years of fierce price cuts since a Government clampdown on dubious claims are now giving way to new forms of claims inflation. The car hire firm Uber recently chose to underwrite its own drivers, according to UBS analysts who said this was the sort of nasty shock facing insurers that do not adapt to new technology. Meanwhile, up to half of all cars will be autonomous in some way by 2025, Deloitte has predicted, making them safer but shifting the risk from motorists to manufacturers. Admiral set up Confused.com in 2002, and while the site’s revenues of £81 million and profits of £16 million last year are a drop in ocean, the firm has made its mark online. The trick now is to keep up. Admiral is one of the most generous dividend payers in the FTSE 100, handing over 95% of its earnings per share last year. This payout is uncertain, with an expected profit dip, an unsustainable release of reserves in recent results and a surprise £200 million bond issue last year. Questor would sit on the sidelines until the firm’s trajectory is clearer.

Carmakers eye golden Iranian opportunity in wake of nuclear deal: The world’s carmakers have been plotting their assault on Iran for several years. But when they arrive in the newly opened country — marking a long-awaited return for some — they will have to share the spoils with aggressive Chinese competitors.

Social housing changes ‘threaten to increase national debt by £60 billion’: An extra £60 billion could be dumped on the national debt as a result of the Chancellor’s aggressive recent interventions in the social housing sector, the government’s fiscal watchdog has warned.

Number of unemployment benefits claimants in the UK registered an unexpected increase in June Number of unemployment benefits claimants in the UK registered an unexpected increase of 7.00 K in June, following a revised loss of 1.10 K in the prior month. Markets were expecting number of unemployment benefits claimants to drop 9.00 K.

UK average earnings including bonus advanced less than expected in the March-May 2015 period On a YoY basis in the UK, the average earnings including bonus recorded a rise of 3.20% in the March-May 2015 period, lower than market expectations for a rise of 3.30%. In the February-April 2015 period, the average earnings including bonus had registered a rise of 2.70%.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.07% or $0.61 higher at $57.66 per barrel. Yesterday, the contract declined 2.5% or $1.46, to settle at $57.05 per barrel, after the Energy Information Administration reported that total commercial stockpiles of crude oil and petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel fuel rose to 1.27 billion barrels in the US, the highest level on record. Meanwhile, investors also assessed the impact of Iran’s nuclear deal on oil markets.

J D Wetherspoon Plc (JDW.L) Announced its pre-close statement for the financial year to 26 July 2015. For the 11 weeks to 12 July 2015 like-for-like sales increased by 2.9% and total sales increased by 6.5%. In the year to date (50 weeks to 12 July 2015) like-for-like sales increased by 3.4% and total sales increased by 7.6%. The operating margin in the 11 weeks to 12 July 2015 was 7.0%, compared with 8.3% in the same 11 weeks last year. The full-year operating margin is expected to be around 7.4% and, as previously indicated, full-year profit before tax is unlikely to be higher than last year. Chairman Tim Martin said "We currently anticipate a trading performance similar to, or slightly above, the current year, with an increased second half weighting, and will provide updates in our regular statements in the course of the next 12 months." The preliminary results are due to be announced on 11 September 2015.

International Consolidated Airlines Group has welcomed the decision by the European Commission to approve its offer for Aer Lingus, after it agreed to make some concessions to assuage concerns about competition. As part of the regulatory process, IAG has said that five daily slot pairs will be made available to other airlines at London Gatwick for flights between the airport and Dublin or Belfast.

Derwent buys back 1 Oxford St: Derwent London has signed a new 150-year lease agreement with Crossrail on a £400 million office and shopping development above Tottenham Court Road station

Strong U.K. job market boosts profit for recruiter Michael Page: A booming British jobs market has raised the earnings of recruiter Michael Page.

Rocketing house prices in East England growing at double the rate of London: House prices in the East of England have surged by 9.3% over the past year, twice as fast as those in London, according to the Office for National Statistics

Giant Aviva Property fund raises cost of withdrawals: One of Britain’s biggest property funds has changed the way it values investor holdings in a bid to limit the damage from investors heading for the exit.

Company whose bolts failed on ‘Cheesegrater’ hired to replace bolts on U.S. Embassy: Steel company Severfield, which took a £6 million hit after giant bolts it supplied for the City’s “Cheesegrater” skyscraper broke and plunged to the ground, has been caught up in fresh problems on another London project.

FirstGroup: running to stand still: John McFarlane has made an impact at Barclays. But one of the companies he previously chaired, transport operator FirstGroup, faces a tricky year. U.K. rail was its single biggest revenue line, but it lost two franchises last year and failed to win any others. Rail revenue in the year to March 2016 will be around £900 million lower as a result. A trading update on Tuesday said that the bus operations are improving, but cheaper fuel means U.S. travellers are more likely to use their cars than its Greyhound coaches — and 90% of FirstGroup’s own 2015-16 fuel usage is hedged at almost $90 a barrel. Margins in its U.K. bus business, at 5.8%, could be fattened by raising fares, but that could hurt volumes. Returns may improve eventually, but with no short-term earnings growth and no dividend, there’s no rush to catch this bus.

Iran: almost there: The long-awaited agreement sealed on Tuesday between six economic powers and Iran is designed to limit the latter’s nuclear capability in return for lifting long-running and damaging economic sanctions. The deal must still be ratified in many of the signatory countries — opposition will be thorny in the U.S. in particular. Companies all over the world, desperate for growth, have their fingers crossed. The long-term promise of Iran’s reserves has understandably excited oil companies such as France’s Total, which has recent working experience of Iran’s complex geology. Also keen will be U.S. oil majors, such as ExxonMobil, which have had little to do with Iran for decades. But the Iranian state oil company will need to offer better production sharing agreements to the oil companies than the low-margin deals of a decade ago. Turkey could also benefit. Leading oil refiner Tupras would gain from the resumption of supplies from Iran — it accounted for nearly half of input in 2011 — and Turkish banks could return to a country with which they have long historical ties, Renaissance Capital points out. There is much to be gained from the deal, and much to be lost if it falls apart.

Retirement savers cash in £1.8 billion from liberated pension pots: Pension savers have taken out more than £1.8 billion from their pension pots since new freedoms came into force in April, according to the latest industry figures.

BHP to take $2 billion write-down on U.S. energy assets: BHP Billiton expects to book a $2 billion impairment charge following a review of its U.S. shale assets