Malian government shutters Randgold office, William Hill in Canadian merger talks

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher on Monday, after closing up 0.63% at 7,044.39 on Friday.

Stocks to watch

FTSE 100 miner Randgold Resources said it was “disappointed” that the Malian government shutdown the company’s offices in Bamako on Sunday in a long running dispute over taxes. Randgold previously disclosed that it has been advised that a large proportion of the tax claims from the Malian government “are without merit or foundation” and the company “is strongly defending its position”.

William Hill confirmed it was in merger talks with Toronto-listed Amaya Inc, owner of the PokerStars website, having rejected offers from smaller UK rivals in the summer. The FTSE 250-listed bookmaker, responding after rumours about the negotiations emerged at the weekend, said a potential deal would be classified as a reverse takeover.

SVG Capital said on Monday that it has not received an offer from US rival HarbourVest Bidco for its investment portfolio. It made the statement in response to a press release issued by HarbourVest on Saturday evening. “The company has received no offer from HarbourVest Bidco for the asset purchase alternative,” it said.

Ultra Electronics announced on Monday that it has been awarded a $34.6m cost-plus-fixed-fee contract by the US Department of the Navy to continue providing cyber-secure critical infrastructure solutions. The FTSE 250 firm said initial tasks of $13.9m should be completed by September 2017, with the contract including options which - if exercised - will bring the cumulative value to more than $82m and extend the contract through September 2020. Under the contract, Ultra Electronics, 3eTI will continue to work with the Navy to design, develop, integrate and install a variety of cyber-secure systems for critical infrastructure control and monitoring.

Newspaper round-up

In a role reversal for the British economy, manufacturers have enjoyed a sales boost since the EU referendum, but the dominant services sector is showing signs of faltering, according to one of the first big economic surveys since the Brexit vote. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that a mixed picture emerged after it took responses from more than 7,000 companies between August and September, in the largest private sector business survey in Britain. - The Times

Theresa May is to push ahead with a new system to vet foreign investment in Britain, but has heeded warnings from chancellor Philip Hammond that the country cannot afford to adopt “French-style” protectionism. The UK prime minister wants the government to be able to intervene in an “orderly and structured” way in sensitive foreign investment and is studying regimes used in other countries such as the US and Australia. - FT

Household spending bounced back last month, with people splashing out on theatre trips, restaurants and holidays, according to new figures. UK consumer spending was up 2.4% year-on-year in September, having been broadly flat in August, said payments company Visa. That was the fastest growth since April. - Guardian

Bets against the pound have hit record highs and are expected to rise further as hedge funds, investors and other speculators see the pound falling to some of its lowest levels against the US dollar. Speculators held 97,572 more contracts betting against, or “shorting”, sterling than those who were betting the currency would rise, in the week of October 4, according to data collected since 1988 by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, nearly 10,000 more than the previous week. - The Times

William Hill’s planned tie-up with the Canadian owner of PokerStars was under discussion even before 888 and Rank approached the British gambling company with their audacious bid earlier this year. The Anglo-Canadian merger, which is expected to be finalised within weeks, will see the new £5bn online gambling giant list in London and retain William Hill’s headquarters in the capital. - Telegraph

US close

US stocks finished slightly lower on Friday following the release of a September jobs report which left economists divided, although several labelled it as "solid".

By the closing bell, and ahead of the Columbus Day holiday on the following Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.15% or 28.01 points to 18,240.49, the S&P 500 declined by 0.33% or 7.03 points to end at 2,153.74 and the Nasdaq fell 0.27% or 14.45 points to 5,292.40.

Stocks slipped on the heels of data showing the US economy added jobs at a slower than expected pace in September and the unemployment rate showed an unexpected increase from 4.9% to 5%.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 156,000 after a gain of 167,000 in August, below market expectations for a 175,000 person increase. Nonetheless, the lower than expected reading was offset by upwards revisions to data for the prior month.

Likewise, the rise in the unemployment rate was partly a function of an increase in the labour force participation rate.

The September non-farms report was to be the last one to be published before the Federal Reserve policy meeting on 1-2 November and in the run-up to the 8 November presidential election a rate hike seems dubious.

Fed chair Janet Yellen had previously appeared to suggest she would likely raise interest rates this year.