In the UK the FTSE 100 Index has declined about five points to 4984.40 points, paced by Vodafone Group.
The mobile phone company has shed 5.50p to 141p, after it announced it would buy back £4.5bn of shares and double the dividend due to a lack of company growth on stronger competition. The firm also reported its loss in the fiscal second half ended in March. Retailers, Kingfisher and GUS have also lost 5p to 260.25p and 11p to 884.50p respectively. Scottish Power meanwhile, leads the pack in terms of gains, adding 27.75p to 469.75p, after reporting it will sell PacifiCorp, a US utility, to MidAmerican Energy for $5.1bn. Emap has also advanced 22.50p to 787.50p after it said it expec...
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