London pre-open: Footsie to ease after gains

14th Sep 2010 07:34

Footsie is expected to fall back slightly in early dealings after strong gains yesterday.Rio Tinto is spending US803m ramping up the block cave project at its Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia to take advantage of strong demand in emerging markets. The money will finance the move from an open pit operation to an underground mine that'll be up and running in 2013 and extend the mine life to at least 2019.Bus and train group has National Express has been given a seven month extension on its East Anglia rail franchise. "The Department for Transport has called a seven period extension under the East Anglia rail franchise agreement. As outlined in the agreement, this is a straightforward 28 week extension beyond the original expiry date of 31 March 2011," National Express said.Department store Debenhams sounded a cautious note on consumer confidence but expects its strategy of lifting margins by selling more of its own label products to result in strong profits. The company saw flat like-for-like sales in the year to 28 August, with a recovery in the last 10 weeks making up for a 1.5% fall throughout the earlier part of the year.