London pre-open: Footsie to start higher

28th Jun 2010 07:38

City traders won't want a repeat of last week when the FTSE 100 lost over 200 points, and the omens are good as the leading index reacts to movements on Wall Street Friday.London is seen up around 19 points early Monday as the Dow Jones closed ahead of where it was when the City packed up at the end of last week.There was some relief in the States as lawmakers eventually agreed to soften measures that would have stripped banks of the ability to trade in derivates. Banks will be allowed to make traditional trades of contracts but those that wish to make riskier trades will have to spin off the divisions that trade derivatives contracts into affiliates in two years.Over here, emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered said this morning it is on course for a strong performance in the first half of 2010 as economic conditions in its markets improve. As at the end of May income and profit were ahead of the comparable period in 2009, excluding the gain of $248m generated from the buyback of Tier 2 notes in April 2009. Income in the first six months is expected to be on a par with the same period of last year, but should show a double digit percentage growth from the second half of 2009.The massive clean-up operation in the Gulf of Mexico continues and has now cost BP $2.65bn (£1.75bn) and the oil giant is stopping almost 23,000 barrels of oil from leaking into the sea. BP, which said last Friday that its bill for the disaster had risen to $2.35bn (£1.57bn) from $2bn (£1.4bn) on the Monday, has so far spent $128m settling 41,000 of 80,000 claims.Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey reports stable conditions in both UK and US housing over the past six months but is still wary over prospects in both markets. "In the short term, with ongoing political and economic uncertainty, we continue to run the business on a cautious basis, with selective land investment and an ongoing focus on costs and cash," Taylor said.Telecoms giant BT is to add Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to its BT Vision subscription TV service. BT Vision customers will be able to view Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 from August 1 after the company inked a deal with British Sky Broadcasting. Pricing packages have not yet been revealed. Defence contractor Cobham has won a microwave modules contract from US company Raytheon Missile Systems. The contract is for $17.4m and has been awarded to Cobham's Sensor Systems business. The microwave modules are used in ground to ground or air to ground missile applications.Online gaming company PartyGaming has been awarded licences by the French gaming regulator, ARJEL, to run online poker and sports betting web sites for French residents. The group can offer sports betting immediately but will have to wait a short while before the French poker market is opened. The regulator is expected to give clearance for poker offerings later this month.