Bloomberg UK software company FreeAgent Holdings Ltd. has said it plans an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market for small, growth-oriented companies. Edinburgh, Scotland- based FreeAgent provides cloud-based accounting software for what it calls “micro-businesses,” a term it defines as companies with fewer than 10 employees. Its decision to float bucks strong headwinds in the …

  Bloomberg When US auto sales numbers arrive on Tuesday, Nissan Motor Co. is expected to look pretty good — or at least less bad than its competition. The Japanese automaker’s sales slipped just 1.5 percent in October, compared with drops of 6.9 percent for General Motors and 11 percent for Ford, analysts estimate. Behind Nissan’s result, though, is a …

  Reuters Major stock markets in the Middle East rose slightly on Monday, outperforming sluggish bourses in Asia and Europe, as Saudi banks continued rebounding on the back of October’s huge international bond issue by their government. The bond issue has allowed the government to suspend, at least temporarily, domestic bond sales and, in conjunction with other steps, this has …