Market Pulse
Glencore buys South African assets from Chevron
Glencore has bought up $973m of manufacturing, retail and industrial supply businesses in South Africa and Botswana from Chevron.
Brexit talks facing further deadlock amid standoff over exit bill
Discussions between the UK and European Union over Brexit are facing further deadlock as the government refuses to agree to an amount to be paid in the so-called ‘Brexit bill’.
London midday: Stocks tick higher as pound slides; payrolls eyed
London stocks had ticked a little higher by midday on Friday, underpinned by a weaker pound, but with moves muted as investors refrained from making big bets either way ahead of the latest non-farm payrolls report.
Hollywood Bowl makes good progress a year after floating
Ten-pin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl Group issued a pre-close trading update for the year to 30 September on Friday, reporting positive progress with its development strategy one year after it floated.
Asia report: Markets higher as China, Korea remain shut
Markets in Asia were all higher on Friday, on the final day of a quiet week marked by a number of exchange closures due to public holidays.
US pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of non-farm payrolls report
US futures pointed to a muted open on Wall Street on Friday as investors eyed the release of the keenly-awaited non-farm payrolls report.
Ultra Electronics eyes January close on Sparton deal
Ultra Electronics confirmed on Friday that Sparton Corporation shareholders had approved the takeover by Ultra.
Lonmin surges as lenders waive some debt covenants
Lonmin shares surged on Friday after the company said its lenders have agreed to waive some of its debt covenants, giving the miner some breathing space and allowing it to buy the rest of its Pandora joint venture mine.
Totally acquiring urgent care provider Vocare in £11m deal
Out-of-hospital services provider Totally announced on Friday that it has conditionally agreed to acquire the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of urgent care services provider Vocare for a consideration of up to £11m on a cash-free and debt-free basis, with a normalised level of working capital.
Zegona Communications extends tender offer deadline
Zegona Communications updated the market on its tender offer on Friday, having initially announced its return of up to £140m to shareholders on 30 August.
CRH target Ash Grove receives rival takeover offer
CRH's proposed $3. 5bn acquisition of US-based Ash Grove has been derailed after the Kansas company received a potentially larger rival offer.
Ryanair CEO O'Leary offers pilots improved pay and conditions
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary penned an impassioned letter to the budget airline's pilots to offer better pay and conditions in a bid to stave off a potential exodus that could lead to further flight cancellations.
EasyJet sees FY profit at upper end of range after record summer
Budget airline easyJet said on Friday that headline pre-tax profit for the year is expected to be at the upper end of the previously guided range as it reported a record number of passengers over the summer.
Average UK house price highest on record in September - Halifax
The average house price in the UK hit its highest on record in September, underpinned by a shortage of homes, according to data from lender Halifax.
Finsbury Food confirms closure of loss-making Grain D'Or factory
Finsbury Food confirmed on Friday that it will close its loss-making Grain D'Or factory by 2 December.
Motif Bio presents positive iclaprim data
Clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Motif Bio announced on Friday that new preclinical data with its investigational drug candidate ‘iclaprim’ were presented during the IDWeek 2017 conference, currently being held in San Diego.
UK high street sales solid in September but October starts badly
UK retail sales were solid in September but growth remained weak amid rising prices, a consumer crunch and declining high street footfall.
London open: Stocks little changed ahead of payrolls, easyJet flies lower
London stocks were inching very modestly higher at the open on Friday, with investors reluctant to make any bold moves either way ahead of the latest non-farm payrolls report.
Base Resources issues almost 5m incentive shares
Base Resources announced on Friday that, following performance testing of the 2014 cycle of rights issued pursuant to the its Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) as at 30 September, a total of 4,961,983 new fully paid ordinary shares had been issued for the benefit of LTIP participants.
Unilever sets deadline for spread bids
Unilever has called a deadline for bids for its £6bn spreads business of 19 October, according to reports overnight.