London pre-open: Footsie to add to gains

15th Oct 2009 07:40

Footsie is expected to top up yesterday's strong gains after the Dow Jones closed above the psychologically important 10,000 barrier for the first time in over a year.Miner Xstrata said today that it has no intention of making an offer for rival Anglo American. The announcement came after a put-up or shut-up ruling following an appeal by Anglo to the Takeover Panel over the disruption to its business caused by the interest from Xstrata.Price rises helped brewing giant SABMiller post results in line with expectations in the six months to September 30 despite sales of lager falling by 1% in volume terms as consumers remained cautious across its markets.Newsagent chain WH Smith announced full year results that saw profit before tax climb by 8% despite a drop in sales. The group also announced that it is returning up to £35m of cash to shareholders through a rolling share buyback programme.Mothercare revealed a 7% rise in second quarter sales and issued a confident outlook for the remainder of the year. UK like-for-like sales during the thirteen weeks ended 10 October 2009 rose 3% while international retail sales during the period surged 23.2%.