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FTSE 100 tipped to open higher after markets rise overnight – live updates

City workers - REUTERS/Hannah McKay
City workers - REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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06:46 AM

William Hill takeover offer

Caesars Entertainment has tabled a £2.9bn takeover bid for high street stalwart William Hill.

The US giant has offered the bookmaker's shareholders 272p a share for the company, which it said was a 57.6pc premium to its closing price on Sept 1, the last day before Caesars’ first approach to William Hill.

Caesars said that William Hill's board was “minded to recommend” the offer to shareholders.


06:45 AM

FTSE to open higher

Good morning. The FTSE 100 is set for a bounce after positive industrial data out of China gave Asian markets a lift overnight. Caesars Entertainment has tabled a £2.9bn offer for William Hill and Aldi is pledging to create thousands of jobs in the UK next year after its profits surged.

5 things to start your day 

1) Regus owner locked in £800m battle with landlords: Shared offices provider IWG will threaten to put its Regus subsidiary into bankruptcy this week, thereby avoiding paying landlords £800m in rent guarantees. IWG said coronavirus has "severely affected" its finances, but landlords have reacted with fury at the move.

2) Bank of England official defends negative rates: Threadneedle Street's only woman rate-setter says evidence for taking rates below zero is "encouraging" from other countries, fuelling expectations the Bank could resort to the drastic measure in a bid to boost the economy.

3) BA backer Qatar Airways lands £1.5bn state bailout: The largest shareholder in British Airways owner IAG has won a bumper rescue package from Qatar to cover its Covid losses. The deal follows Qatar Airways' decision to up its stake in the British company by another £450m earlier this year.

4) Investors fear Wall Street chaos after US election: Traders are braced for long term stock market volatility after the November presidential election, if the outcome is disputed. A reliance on postal votes in the pandemic makes it unlikely a result can be announced on the night, and critics fear President Donald Trump could contest a Biden victory.

5) Exclusive: FoI laws give Upper Crust owner the edge in rail rent talks: Retail giant SSP has used freedom of information rules to effectively slash rents it owes train station operators, likely costing taxpayers millions.

What happened overnight 

Chinese stocks drove Asian markets higher on Monday, though sentiment was still cautious ahead of a US Presidential debate and as a spike in new coronavirus cases undermined global economic recovery hopes.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.5pc to 550.47, but still within striking distance of a two-month low of 543.66 hit last week.

The index is set to end the month deep in the red after three straight monthly gains as the pandemic continues to wreak economic havoc around the world and raises investor anxiety about sky-high valuations.

Chinese shares opened higher and helped to underpin Asian markets after a tentative start, with the blue-chip CSI 300 index up 0.85pc. Shanghai's SSE climbed 0.5pc.

Encouragingly, data over the weekend showed profits at China's industrial firms grew for the fourth straight month in August buoyed in part by a rebound in commodities prices and equipment manufacturing.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was 0.75pc higher, partly on a lower yen, while South Korea's KOSPI index gained 1.1pc.

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