UK nuclear group British Energy said it expects to reopen its Hartlepool and Heysham 2 nuclear power stations before the end of the year.

The consortium snubbed by Informa said it is disappointed by the quick rejection of its proposal and added that it may not make another offer for the publishing group.

Music, films and games retailer HMV saw sales in the 18 weeks to August 2008 slow sharply as sales at book retailer Waterstone's fell, though it did see strong demand in video games sales.

JD Wetherspoon moves higher after reporting its busiest August ever, despite profits in the year to July 27 falling by 12.7%.

Kazakh cement manufacturer Steppe Cement reported a rise in profits even as it faced higher input costs and a contracting cement market.

Bid talk has surrounded insurer RSA all week and refuses to die down with rumours that German giant Allianz mooted as a likely bidder.

Chocolate manufacturer Cadbury leads food producers higher the day after Lehman Brothers raised its target price on Cadbury to 800p from 716p, maintaining its 'overweight' rating.

Footsie has reacted calmly to a big rise in the number of job losses in the US last month.

We'll have to wait until 2011 before a return to consistent house price growth, upmarket estate agent Savills warned today.

Prices are holding steady at lower levels, though investors may be waiting for a lead from Wall Street which, in turn, is waiting for non-farm payrolls data.

The ability to pass on increases in raw material prices and the performance of Primark will be the key features to look out for when Associated British Foods gives a trading update on Monday.

The number of Footsie constituents showing a rise this morning is in single figures but the benchmark index's retreat is not as severe as might have been anticipated after the 300 point plus fall for Dow Jones overnight.

Cutting costs will be difficult for Sainsbury, Deutsche Bank said as it downgraded its rating on the supermarket operator to 'sell' from 'hold' with a target price reduced to 310p from 335p.

Cutting costs will be difficult for J Sainsbury, Deutsche Bank said as it downgraded its rating on the supermarket operator to 'sell' from 'hold' with a target price reduced to 310p from 335p.

JP Morgan has raised its target price on Thomson Reuters to 2,000p from 1,900p, pointing to the resilience of the financial information giant's legal and professional segments.

HSBC has cut its target price on New Star Asset Management to 110p from 130p, following the fund manager's interim results last week.

Oil explorer ROC said a settlement has been reached in the dispute over Block H, offshore equatorial Guinea.

London has opened lower but better than expected after the 300 point plus fall for Dow Jones overnight.

Copper miner Xstrata has bought a 17.83% stake in Indophil Resources from Lion Selection for A$1.17 per share, or US$69m.

Multi-utility group Telecom Plus said forecasts indicate that its results for the year will be "significantly" ahead of current market expectations.

Budget airline easyJet carried almost 24% more passengers in August than it did the year before, while passenger numbers grew by 8.8% at rival Aer Lingus last month.

Bus and train operator Go-Ahead said it is pleased to report another year of record results, which are significantly ahead of last year and above its expectations in June.

The economic slowdown and last July's smoking ban in England have conspired to drop full-year pre-tax profit by 12.7% at pub group JD Wetherspoon.

London is in for a difficult opening after the hammering for US stocks overnight. Traders suggest Footsie could fall over 50 points in first deals.

Music, films and games retailer HMV said its plans are in line with expectations as it saw like-for-like sales rise 1.3% in the 18 weeks to August 2008.

Churchill Mining will today announce that resources at its coal prospect in Indonesia have already topped 1.4bn tonnes with just 20% of the target area drilled. It means Churchill, which owns 75% of the project, may not just be sitting on a good asset, but on a world-class one.

Electricité de France is moving closer to a deal to buy British Energy, the nuclear generator, after talks with some of the UK company's biggest investors have begun to bear fruit, writes the FT.

Informa revealed late Thursday it has rejected a reduced 450p a share offer from a private equity consortium that "significantly undervalues" the publishing group.

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

Footsie slumped near the close as Wall Street tumbled on weak US jobs and retail sales numbers.

Aussie mining giant and BHP bid target Rio Tinto has approved a US$293m spend on expanding its Canadian iron ore operations and on further studies.

JD Wetherspoon rounds off a busy week for pub operators, following in the footsteps of Punch Taverns and Greene King, both of whom confirmed hard times for the pub trade.

Firmer metals prices help mining stocks, with copper steady today after rising for the first day in five yesterday.

Footsie turned down sharply early into the afternoon session as Wall Street opened lower after weak US jobs and retail sales numbers.

Heritage Oil and Premier Oil are lifted by the higher crude price. Oil rose for the first time in five days as the latest in the recent string of hurricanes, 'Ike' threatened to disrupt supplies in the Atlantic

An announcement from Emblaze stating that Sturm Foundation and/or Donald Sturm have increased their holdings by 3.1m shares had the Israeli tech firm higher Thursday.

Final bonus rates on more than 2.4 million of Norwich Union's with-profits policies have been cut due to poor investment conditions since the beginning of the year.

Payments service provider DataCash remains upbeat about hitting targets for the year after reporting a 24% hike in both pre-tax profit and revenue during teh first half.

Footsie has closed the morning session in good shape with oil and mining groups going well and Unilever's new chief executive getting a warm response.

Positive broker coverage helped send shares in Whitbread higher after the coffee shop and hotel chain operator reported a 7% rise in like-for-like sales Thursday morning.

Positive broker coverage helped send shares in Whitbread higher after the coffee shop and hotel chain operator reported a 7% rise in like-for-like sales Thursday morning.

JP Morgan has moved its ratings on technology companies Invensys and Smiths Group in opposite directions on valuation grounds.

News that Unilever has poached Paul Polman as chief executive from Nestle was tempered slightly by Lehman Brothers downgrading the food and household goods giant to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight'.

Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unilever is top dog this morning on the appointment of Nestle's Paul Polman as chief executive to replace Patrick Cescau.

Footsie is still in need of guidance ahead of the midday rated decision and as the higher oil price sends stocks in both directions.

UK care home services provider Southern Cross Healthcare has completed sale and leaseback deals on a further seven care homes, as it seeks to stave off the possible breach of loan covenants.

Oil giant BP has confirmed it has signed a memorandum of understanding to restructure TNK-BP, Russia’s third largest oil company.

Oil and gas facilities service provider Petrofac said a helicopter crash caused a fire at a drilling rig in the Rashid field off the coast of Dubai.

Global technology company Smiths Group had pocketed a tidy gain on the sale of a former operational site in Basingstoke.

London's benchmark index is just above flat having started brightly as stocks look for direction.