London pre-open: Footsie set to dive below 5800

29th Jul 2011 07:38

The failure of Republicans in the US House of Representatives to muster enough support last night for a programme that will enable the US debt ceiling to be raised has set nerves jangling this side of the Atlantic.The US has until 2 August to raise the debt ceiling. The Republicans are said to be preparing to have another crack at drafting legislation that will win the support of law markers who are currently not on board with the Grand Old Party's plans.City traders are expecting the blue-chip index to take a 73 point fall at the outset, which would put it perilously close to dropping below the 5800 level.Financial Times and Penguin books publisher Pearson has upgraded its outlook for the full year after interim results that saw adjusted operating profit rise by 17% year-to-year to £208m on the back of a 3% increase in the headline sales figure to £2.4bn. The interim dividend has been hiked by 8% to 14.0p from 13.0p.BSkyB has demonstrated why Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation was so keen to get his hands on the broadcaster with a sharp rise in revenues and profits. Revenue in the year to 30 June soared to £6.6bn from £5.7bn the previous year, while EBITDA (earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation) came in at £1.4bn, up from £1.2bn.Mobile phone network colossus Vodafone is to pay a special dividend of 4p per share next year after its 45% owned US associate, Verizon Wireless, resumed dividend payments.Emergency home repairs outfit Homeserve expects customer growth of around 3% in the UK in the current financial year. "We have made a good start to the financial year and continue to expect to deliver another year of strong growth," the company said, adding that the results will, as usual, be second-half weighted.