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Traded today. The selling was easily absorbed by buyers it seems during the trading session.

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell has begun the initial phase of restarting the Moerdijk petrochemical cracker in the Netherlands that has been closed since October 2014, according to the Dutch refinery website. The company is cleaning the pipes at the unit with high-pressure steam, a process that it said will take roughly two months. A Shell spokeswoman confirmed the cracker, which produces ethylene, will resume operations in the third quarter this year, which is slightly earlier than some traders were expecting. The unit has been offline since a utilities breakdown and contamination of the steam system in October 2014. Shell has been supplying its customers with products from the Porto Marghera refinery, owned by Versalis, the petrochemical division of Italy's Eni. Eni said the Porto Marghera cracker, which had been closed before the agreement with Shell as the refinery was converted to a biofuels complex, would continue running until October 2015. (Reporting by Libby George; editing by David Clarke)

April saw far stronger housing market activity across the board than at the same point a year ago, the latest research from Connells Survey & Valuation has revealed. Overall, the number of property valuations conducted in April posted an annual increase of 13%, despite falling by 32% compared with March 2015. All sectors witnessed monthly falls in transaction volumes as seasonal factors took their toll, but on an annual basis, they all saw an increase in valuations activity. Remortgaging outperformed the rest of the house purchase market by posting annual growth of 25%, overcoming a 34% seasonal dip from March, while first-time buyers and homemovers posted annual increases of 7% and 3% respectively, as well as monthly falls of 33% and 27%. Meanwhile, the buy-to-let sector experienced the largest rate of annual growth (up 29% year-on-year), but it also witnessed the sharpest monthly fall, with valuations activity down by 36% from March. "The fact that all indicators - from first-time buyers right through to remortgagers - are up on this time in 2014 demonstrates the broad momentum in the property market, which we expect to continue," said John Bagshaw of Connells. "The latest monthly dip from March is generally a seasonal effect at this time of year [and] there is no sign of a serious housing market slowdown. Remortgaging is leading all other valuations activity on the back of record-low mortgage rates and the need to reset household finances… many households may be capitalising on this period by refinancing to a fixed mortgage."

Galliford Try Plc (GFRD.L) Announced that it has been appointed to two new contracts in the education sector worth up to £55 million to the business. Firstly, Galliford Try's Building business has reached financial close on the £38 million Hull and East Riding batch under the first phase of the Government's Priority School Building Programme. The batch includes the £18.6 million construction of Hessle High School and Sixth Form College, as well as new buildings for Eastfield, Francis Askew, Wold and Ainthorpe primary schools. Secondly, Morrison Construction has been appointed preferred bidder by Moray Council for the refurbishment of four primary schools under the LHC Framework. The package is worth up to £17 million to the business and includes projects at Applegrove in Forres, Millbank in Buckie, Seafield in Elgin and St Gerardines in Lossiemouth.

Derwent London Plc (DLN.L) Announced, in its first quarter business update, that lettings is 225,400 sq ft let so far in 2015, securing £11.3 million per annum, already 23% more than in the whole of 2014. Vacancy has fallen to 1.9% from 4.1% in December, reflecting recent letting activity. In developments, 70,500 sq ft completed (100% let or exchanged) with 933,300 sq ft either under construction or due to start in 2015. In the investment activity, £114 million property swap adds major Farringdon Crossrail opportunity to portfolio. £175 million convertible bonds 2016 redeemed in January 2015 by the issue of 7.88m new shares. Long-term corporate credit rating improved to BBB+ (from BBB) by Standard & Poor's. LTV ratio of 19.9% with cash and undrawn facilities of £342 million at 31 March 2015. Claudia Arney to join the Board as an independent non-executive Director.

Aviva Plc (AV..L) Announced its interim management statement for the three months to 31 March 2015. In the first quarter of 2015, key metrics have improved. Value of new business (VNB) is up 14%, the combined operating ratio (COR) has improved 1.3 percentage points and IFRS net asset value per share is 8p higher at 348p. Despite lower interest rates and adverse foreign currency developments, economic capital surplus has remained broadly constant at £8.1 billion (FY14: £8.0 billion) with a coverage ratio of 177% (FY14: 178%). Operating capital generation (OCG) has increased to £0.5 billion in the first quarter of 2015 (1Q14: £0.4 billion). Value of new business, its growth measure for life insurance, increased 14% in constant currency to £247 million (1Q14: £224 million). General insurance combined operating ratio (COR) improved 1.3 percentage points to 96.4% (1Q14: 97.7%). The Group is well positioned to deal with the macro, market and regulatory headwinds that face the sector and it is confident that 2015 will see continued progress.

Finsbury looks to save 150 East Kilbride jobs: Finsbury Food Group, Owner of Scottish cakes producer Lightbody, is in talks to buy an East Kilbride bakery in a deal that would save 150 jobs.

North Sea firms ‘need to slash costs by 40%’: Extracting the estimated 23 billion barrels of oil and gas that remain in the U.K. North Sea will require a hefty 40% reduction in the industry’s cost base, according to trade body Oil & Gas U.K..

North Sea oil and gas firms told to act boldly to cut costs: North Sea oil and gas firms have made progress towards delivering the 40% cost savings needed to make the area competitive but have much to do, an industry leader has said.

Poundland agrees to work with regulator in pursuit of 99p Stores: Poundland is keeping its £55 million bid for rival 99p Stores alive by agreeing to an in-depth probe of the deal by the competition regulator.

Don’t buy Sainsbury’s on these results: Sainsbury’s did little to reassure investors that the worst of a bitter price war was over when it announced a slump in full year profits and said that prices will continue to fall for the rest of the year. The uncertainty about profits during the next 12 months was enough to send shares down more than 4%. The U.K. grocery sector has suffered from the rise of the discounters Aldi and Lidl, which has resulted in prices tumbling and customers deserting their big weekly shop. The big four U.K. grocers are not blameless in this market shift – they let prices drift too high and left too much room for the cheaper alternatives to enter the market. The painful adjustment to a lower price environment will not be quick or easy for big players like Sainsbury’s. Sainsbury’s profits have moved from £772 million in 2013, to £898 million in 2014 before falling to a £72 million loss in the 12 months to March 14 this year. The main reason for the slump was £713 million in costs that were largely due to the decreasing value of its property portfolio, down from £12 billion to £11.1 billion at the end of the year. But even adjusting for this and other factors the underlying pretax profits have still fallen 24% to £681 million. Income investors suffered a nasty cut in the annual dividend, which was reduced by 24%, from 17.3p, to 13.2p. Market consensus is for another 20% fall, to 10.4p, in the year ahead. Sainsbury’s shares are trading at a discount to net asset value, but hold few attractions on 13 times forecast earnings. Profit, dividend and sales are all expected to fall in the year ahead and until there is a concrete sign of profits hitting bottom and beginning to recover we stick with our cautious view. J Sainsbury at 263.6p -11.4p. Questor Says “Sell”.

Imperial Tobacco moves to more regular dividends: The Boss of Imperial Tobacco described the first half results as boringly consistent. Questor has absolutely no problem with that when pretax profits of £1.15 billion came in ahead of market expectations and investors were rewarded with a 10% increase in the interim dividend, which offers a 4.2% prospective yield. Alison Cooper, Chief Executive, said she expects more price increases in the second half of the year. Market expectations are for full year pretax profits to the end of September of £2.4 billion, on revenue of £7.5 billion, which would generate about 203p in earnings per share. Ms Cooper is confident that pushing these brands through the Imperial marketing machine will boost revenues. The decision is by no means certain, but if it takes place then it would be a catalyst for shares to move higher as Imperial’s market share in the U.S. would rapidly accelerate. Imperial is a classic income generating share trading on 16 times forecast earnings, falling to 15 times next year. The shares are up 13% from our tip of the year (Buy, £28.36, January 1) and we remain positive for the long term. Imperial Tobacco at £31.75-55p. Questor Says “Buy”.

Cuba says it has found giant oil field, U.S. doesn’t care: Cuba has unveiled new data it said confirmed there were billions of barrels of oil beneath its Gulf of Mexico waters but admitted there was little interest in new exploration even with the thaw in U.S. relations.

Prudential: stick with the plan: The outgoing Chief Executive of U.K. insurer Prudential may not have the following of Walter Cronkite, the former CBS news anchor, but Mr Thiam’s act should at least prove easy to follow for Mike Wells, his successor, who takes over next month. Mr Thiam leaves a well-oiled machine, with an Asian growth business in rude health and, despite low interest rates, resilient units in the U.S. and U.K. So Mr Wells, who earned his spurs as CEO of Prudential’s Jackson National Life operation in the U.S., has no reason to alter an Asian growth strategy set in 2013. He was its co-author. In U.S. life, however, where Prudential targets retiring baby boomers, he will want to ensure that Jackson remains selective in the variable annuity business it writes — it must not chase volumes. Better to let quarterly sales fluctuate. He should also keep exploiting the fee-generating potential of Jackson’s asset-management business. In the U.K., Prudential has increased sales of supplemental products, such as “with-profits” funds, to offset the wider market fall in annuity sales after last year’s pension reforms. That strategy looks to have paid off: U.K. retail life sales rose 8% from a year ago.

Sage Group aims to build on profit rises with overhaul plans: Sage Group has signalled it will overhaul its business, after the accounting software company revealed strong increases in revenues and profits that kept it on track to meet its 2015 targets.

SuperGroup’s sales rebound: The decision by SuperGroup to have a rare clearance sale and realign its strategy appears to have paid off after the Owner of fashion clothing brand Superdry reported double-digit like-for-like sales in the second half of its trading year.

Imperial Tobacco confident on Reynolds-Lorillard deal: Imperial Tobacco is prepared for tweaks to the $27 billion Reynolds American takeover of Lorillard when U.S. competition authorities rule on the deal that will more than triple the British tobacco company’s market share in the U.S.

Sainsbury’s Boss predicts 15% market share for discounters: Sainsbury’s Chief Executive, Mike Coupe, has predicted discount supermarkets are set to gobble up nearly 15% of the market by 2022.

Oil fuels talk of rising interest rates: A surge in the price of crude oil to the highest in five months has reawakened concerns about inflation and sent bond values tumbling again

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.69% or $0.47 lower at $67.30 per barrel. Yesterday, the contract climbed 0.37% or $0.25, to settle at $67.77 per barrel, after the Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil inventories unexpectedly fell 3.9 million barrels in the week ended 1 May, its first decline in four months. However, gains were capped amid an increase in gasoline supplies.