Aus close

LONDON (AFX) - Leading shares are expected to open slightly easier on profit-taking this morning following Friday's options expiries-related boost, and with Wall Street weaker on Friday, as the wind-down to Christmas gathers pace, dealers said.
Spread bettors IG index expect the FTSE 100 index to open 7 points easier at around 5,524.

MARKETS
Tokyo: Nikkei 15,391.48, up 218.41
Hang Seng - midday 15,153.59, up 123.78

TODAY'S PRESS
* WTO deal fails to heal rifts; toughest talking left until next year; compromise averts trade negotiation crisis; help on exports to poorest countries - FT
* Blair rebate pact to cost 2 bln stg a year - FT
* BAA agrees 1.25 bln stg deal to buy Budapest airport - FT
* Lactalis, the French dairy group, understood to have been in talks with DAIRY CREST over a period of two months about a possible 800 mln stg takeover approach for the British dairy foods group - Times
* Hugh Osmond understood to have held talks with ABBEY and AVIVA about buying their closed and legacy life funds - Times
* Christian Wulff, the premier of Lower Saxony which is Volkswagen's second-largest shareholder, to meet the carmaker's largest institutional investors to gauge support in his battle to oust supervisory board chairman Ferdinand Piech - FT
* UNILEVER to merge assets across its worldwide pension schemes to gain more control over the funds - FT

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on monetary tightening (impact on consumer demand could be much larger than recent economic history would suggest), Corporate capex (the UK's chancellor, hoping companies will step in to fill the economic gap left by the consumer, could be in for a long wait), Hungary (while, at present, Hungary has no difficulty servicing its debts, the fiscal mess is likely to delay adoption of the euro, now not expected until sometime next decade)
Independent
Small Talk: Michael Jivkov comments on LANGBAR INTERNATIONAL (a founder director interviewd by Italian prosecutors who are looking into the collapse of a Canadian hedge fund), GLADSTONE (could well prove a top performer in 2006), LUPUS CAPITAL (shareholders must be losing patience waiting for Hutchings and hoping 2006 is a year of action at the 25 mln stg company), CMR FUEL CELLS (will debut on AIM this week)

morning all

Official List
19 December 2005


NOTICE OF TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF LISTING FROM THE OFFICIAL LIST

19/12/2005 7:30 AM

TEMPORARY SUSPENSION

SOMERFIELD PLC

The Financial Services Authority ('the FSA ') temporarily suspends the
securities set out below from the Official List effective from 19/12/2005 7:30
AM at the request of the company pending an announcement:

Ordinary Shares of 10p each (0-821-869)(GB0008218694)
fully paid


If you have any queries relating to the above, please contact the Listing
Applications Team at the FSA on 020 7066 8333 (option 3).


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

Good morning all.

Morning All,

Another bid for SOM do you think MB?

Stan,could well be,me thinks it is.