NORTHUMBRIAN WATER CUT TO 'UNDERPERFORM' VS 'IN-LINE' AT GOLDMAN SACHS

MINERVA UPGRADED TO 'BUY' AT MERRILL LYNCH

BRADFORD & BINGLEY INITIATED 'NEUTRAL' AT UBS; PRICE TARGET 320P

SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE UPGRADED TO 'OVERWEIGHT' VS 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' AT LEHMAN

AB FOODS BUYS LITTLEWOODS FOR 409 MLN STG

Outlook Shares

MARKETS
Tokyo: Nikkei 11,688.21 up 122.22
Hang Seng 14,079.88 up 115.41

BREAKING NEWS - MONDAY
* Blair rejects bomb probe calls; PM believes inquiry would be a diversion from funding culprits; Clarke to urge EU co-operation in fight against terrorism - FT
* Mitsubishi Heavy expresses interest in buying Westinghouse Electric, the US nuclear plant manufacturer, from British Nuclear Fuels, for about 1.15 bln stg - FT
* New orders booked by the UK aerospace industry rose by 28 pct year-on-year in 2004 to 22.6 bln stg, the highest level since 1998 - FT
* Asda may replace Baugur in bid for SOMERFIELD - Guardian
* Union chiefs back Shanghai Automotive's Rover bid - FT
* Former Ford boss, Martin Leach, flies in for MG Rover revival talks - Times
* ITV to sell education arm Granada Learning; it could fetch 80 mln stg
* Macquarie expected to announce the 70 mln stg acquisition if Inmedia Communications, the UK satellite services company - FT

MONDAY PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on European M&A, Marketing, Valuing synergies - TESCOM SOFTWARE TESTING SYSTEMS (begins trading on AIM today)
Independent
Small Talk: Stephen Foley comments on SYNERGY HEALTHCARE (8.7 mln stg acquisition of SHILOH could prove controversial), EASIER (rebels fight on), RESEARCH NOW (company is raising a little more than 4 mln stg for expansion), LONGBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL (Noble & Co, reinstalled as adviser, expected to pursue a plan for a reverse takeover of the company and a refinancing), NORD ANGLIA EDUCATION (attracts the attention of Brian Myerson, one half of the old Active Value duo)
Express
THE AIM MARKET: DAWNAY DAY CARPATHIAN (hoping to raise up to 150 mln stg through an AIM listing to invest in shopping centres, supermarkets and retail warehouses in eastern and central Europe), ASIAN CITRUS (floating on AIM towards the end of the month)
Times
SMALLER STOCK TO WATCH: ELY (the Irish sale-and-leaseback company will announce plans early this week to float on AIM) - DEAL OF THE DAY: RESEARCH NOW (the survey information provider to the market research industry is planning to list on AIM)