FTSE 100 opened lower, losing 40 points to 7,509. A fall in the oil price weighed on the index, with heavyweights BP and Shell both declining at the open.
Vodafone agreed on the potential sale of its Hungarian business for €1.8bn. 4iG Public and Corvinus Zrt, a Hungarian state holding company, are the would-be buyers.
Households with smart meters could be paid for turning off high-energy appliances to help avoid blackouts. The National Grid Electricity System Operator is understood to be preparing plans.
Sony PlayStation is being sued for £5bn. Nine million claimants believe they were ripped off with overpriced games and in-game purchases.
Base Resources posted record profits for the year to end-June on higher prices for mineral sands. The Australian-based miner plans to pay a final dividend of A$3.0 cents per share.
Eden Research said first-half trading was in line with expectations with revenues up 33%. The group, a specialist in sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free crop protection, said product sales were up 54%.
Rosslyn Data announced its first enterprise customer through its partnership with Chain IQ. Rosslyn will supply its procurement analytics platform to a tier one Japanese bank on a five-year contract.