SHARES STRONGLY UP/DOWN this week 26/12/05 (Master RSI)

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY PRESS

* Christmas Eve fails to deliver the last-minute reprieve for retailers this
year; the number of shoppers on the high street is reported to be 18 pct down
compared with Christmas Eve last year; Footfall says Friday turned out to be
"boom day", in contrast with the performance on Saturday, when the number of
shoppers was down 15.4 pct on the previous week - Monday Times
* A record number of stores will open Boxing Day in a cut-throat battle for
customers; prices have been slashed by up to 80 pct in the winter sales as
retailers try to make up for a disappointing Christmas - Monday Mail
* SHELL's LPG auction fails to generate much heat; sale hangs in balance after
a year on block as bid come in 1 bln eur lower than expected - Monday Telegraph
* ROYAL DUTCH SHELL resumes limited operations in southern Nigeria after a
pipeline exploded in the Niger Delta on Tuesday - Monday Times
* Indian technology workers are flooding the UK on temporary permits,
undercutting local wages and raising the prospect of a homegrown skills
shortage, Association for Technology Staffing companies claims - Monday
Telegraph
* UNILEVER signs a seven-year contract with IBM to outsource some of its
finance functions as part of its One Unilever programme to streamline the
company - Monday Telegraph
* Antofagasta agrees a 133 mln usd joint venture with an Australian group to
explore and exploit Pakistan copper and gold properties
* Boeing understood to be close to edging out its European rival Airbus to
clinch a 10 bln usd deal with Singapore Airlines - Monday Telegraph
* Two of Europe's biggest ferry operators put up for sale, with price tags
totalling 950 mln stg, in a major shake-up of the Baltic shipping market; equal
joint-owners of Scandlines - Germany's state-back rail operator Deutsche Bahn
and the Danish transport ministry - bury their differences to hoist the for sale
sign over the ferry operator - Monday Telegraph
* Abigail Johnson, heir to the founding family that controls Fidelity
Investments, leaves the board of the group's main investment management company,
which her father, Edward Johnson, chairs; her departure appears to have followed
a power struggle with colleagues - Monday Times
* Property price boom shifts away from south; north still playing catch-up
despite regional rises - Saturday FT
* Retailers will be hoping for a last-minute rush to end the Christmas shopping
season after further evidence emerges that the UK's consumers are spending less
than last year; figures released by Footfall show the number of people visiting
the nation's shops in the week to Thursday was down by 3.9 pct against the same
period last year - Saturday FT
* Defined contribution pensions set to outstrip final salary schemes by 2007,
according to Threadneedle Asset Management - Saturday FT
* AEGIS buys Roland Berger's market research business for 3.6 mln stg
* Analysts believe HILTON GROUP is worth up to 450 pence a share, or 7.2 bln
stg, in the event of a break-up; it is poised to sell its hotels division to
America's Hilton Corporation for 3.6 bln stg - Saturday Mail
* PERSIMMON comes under fire from Pensions Investment Research Consultants for
giving shareholders just six working days over the Christmas holiday to consider
and vote on its acquisition of WESTBURY - Saturday FT
* Saint-Gobain puts its Calmar plastic pumps business on the block as it
launches the non-core disposal programme promised after its 3.9 bln stg
acquisition of BPB - Saturday FT
* Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, signs documents to open up share trading
in Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer - Saturday FT
* ASOS, the online fashion retailer forced to stop trading after the Buncefield
oil depot fire in Hertfordshire, expects to be up and running again by the
middle of next month - Saturday FT
* ASOS, the online fashion retailer forced to call a temporary halt to trading
as a result of the recent fire at Hemel Hempstead, will try to tempt back
customers in the new year by offering them discounts - Monday Telegraph
* INDEPENDENT NEWS & MEDIA's 22.5 mln stg investment in Jagran Prakashan,
Indian newspaper publisher, expected to be valued at three to four times the
initial investment made in June when JPL raises fresh capital in 2006 - Saturday
FT
* Natural health retailer Neal's Yard Remedies sold to former book publisher
Peter Kindersley for 10 mln stg