This Morning in London major shares were firmly higher in early deals, with miners ahead on ongoing M&A talk in the sector. Rio Tinto (RIO) gained 110p at 5,626p on yesterday's rumours that Baosteel Group, China's largest steelmaker, is launching a counter-bid to the BHP Billiton (BLT) merger proposal, also up 38p at 1,601p. Xstrata (XTA) gained 102p at 3,422p, Anglo American (AAL) was up 82p at 3,200p and Antofagasta (ANTO) was 17.5p firmer at 760p. At 9:45 the FTSE-100 was up 94.8 points at 6,410.0 with the FTSE-250 ahead 167.4 points at 10,436.3.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Citigroup has upgraded Bradford & Bingley (BB.) to hold from sell and reiterates sell Alliance & Leicester (AL.) (cutting the price target to 625p from 780p).
The broker says buy Filtrona (FLTR) (340p target price), Tesco (TSCO) (500p target price) and Travis Perkins (TPK) (cutting the price target to 1690p from 2235p).
Citigroup says hold Victrex (VCT) (cutting the price target to 720p from 800p) and Weir Group (WEIR) (830p target).
Deutsche has resumed coverage of Standard Life (SL.), appending a hold recommendation and a 277p target price.
The broker says buy Imperial Tobacco (IMT) and Stagecoach (SGC).
Lehman reiterates overweight on HMV (HMV) (169p target price).
Merrill has downgraded Standard Life (SL.) to neutral from overweight and says buy Admiral (ADM), Prudential (PRU) and Old Mutual (OML).
The broker says sell Northern Foods (NFDS) and says buy Weir Group (WEIR) (950p target) and has neutral on Great Portland (GPOR).
Merrill has replaced Signet (SIG) with Next (NXT) in its Most Preferred Retail List.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks posted a second straight session of losses, as a spate of downgrades for financials fueled concerns about the credit-market crisis, while updates from Nokia and Merck disappointed investors. The Dow Jones fell 65 points to 13,248, as 21 of its 30 components traded in the red. The S&P fell 9.6 points to 1,462 and the Nasdaq dropped 17.3 points to 2,619.
On this day in:-
1993 - American astronauts from the Shuttle Endeavour left their spacecraft to begin work on repairing the Hubble space telescope 367-miles above the surface of Earth.
1977 - Five Arab nations broke diplomatic links with Egypt, hostile to President Anwar Sadat's peace initiative with Israel.
1962 - The United States and Soviet Union agreed to co-operate in peaceful uses of outer space.
1958 - The inauguration of Great Britain's STD telephone service in Bristol.
1958 - Prime Minister Harold MacMillan opened Great Britain's first motorway.
1956 - Great British and French forces began to withdraw from Egypt at the end of the Suez War.
1956 - Approval was given for British Togoland and Ghana to become a single country.
1945 - The so-called Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean claimed more victims, as 5 US Navy bombers from Fort Lauderdale in Florida disappeared while flying over the area. No trace was ever found of the planes or the pilots.
1944 - World War II: Allied forces captured Ravenna in Italy.
1936 - The Soviet Union adopted a new Constitution, under one Supreme Council.
1934 - There were reports from Russia of the executions of 66 people found guilty of plotting against the Government of Joseph Stalin.
1933 - After 13-years, the era of Prohibition in America came to an end. The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, bringing an end to the prohibition of alcohol in America. In early 1919, the 18th Amendment banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors within the United States. To enforce the 18th Amendment, the U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act, which authorised the Treasury Department to establish its own prohibition unit. In its first 6-months, the unit destroyed thousands of illicit stills run by bootleggers. However, federal agents and police did little more than slow the flow of booze, and organised crime flourished in America. Prohibition, ineffective in enforcing sobriety, lost popular support and in early 1933 Congress proposed the 21st Amendment to repeal the 18th. On 5th December 1933, Prohibition officially ended when Utah became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, giving it the requisite three-fourths majority of state approval.
1913 - Great Britain forbade the selling of arms to Ireland.
1904 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian fleet was destroyed by the Japanese at Port Arthur.
1872 - An American ship, the Marie Celeste, was found drifting in the Atlantic. There was no sign of any of the crew members and no clues why they should have deserted the ship.
1863 - The rules of Association Football were published.
1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte deserted his troops retreating from Russia and travelled back to Paris alone.
1797 - Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Paris to take command of the French forces planning the invasion of Great Britain.
1792 - In Revolutionary France, the start of the trial of King Louis XVI.
1766 - James Christie, who founded the world famous auctioneers, held his first sale in London.
1697 - The first Sunday service was held in the new St Paul's Cathedral, built in London.
1560 - Charles IX became King of France on the death of Francis II.
