ChemChina-Syngenta deal approved

The largest ever foreign acquisition by a Chinese company has just been cleared, after the US national security panel examined ChemChina’s takeover bid for Syngenta.

The takeover was agreed in February and sees ChemChina pay $43 billion for the world’s largest pesticides maker, pushing Syngenta shares up over 11 percent.

The approval remained a major hurdle for the takeover and now paves the way for the finalisation of the deal by the end of the year.

Wireless group post positive results

Radio station owner Wireless Group saw results “broadly in line” with expectations for the first six months of the year, boosted by sports station talkSPORT.

The Group benefited from the £79.2 million sale of its TV business to ITV back in February, boosting pre-tax profit up to £82.1 million up form a £500,000 loss a year ago.

The Group’s Chairman Richard Huntingford commented:

“The recent RAJAR and JNLR figures demonstrate the strength of the Group’s ongoing brands in its key markets as well as the ability to launch successfully new digital brands that are attractive to listeners which stands the Group in good stead going forward.”

Wireless Group shares are up 1.21 percent at 314.00 (1101GMT).

Dollar up on Fed decision

The dollar strengthened on Monday as speculation increased ahead of this week’s statement from the Federal Reserve on when it expects to raise rates.

Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer pushed markets up on Sunday after he signalled the economy was strong enough to implement a rate rise soon, ahead of the Fed’s meeting later this week.

The dollar index rose 0.4 percent, with US 10-year Treasury yields hitting a two week high.

22/08/2016