London pre-open: FTSE set for flat start

20th Apr 2012 07:38

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down one point from yesterday's close of 5,745 as investors balance yesterday's poor US jobs data with the strong sale of Spanish bonds. Weekly initial unemployment claims fell by 2,000 to 386,000 last week, according to data out yesterday from the US Labor Department. The market consensus was looking for a reading of 370,000. However, the previous week's reading was revised higher to 388,000 from 380,000. Yesterday the Spanish Treasury issued 2.54bn euros in two- and 10-year bonds, slightly above the top end of the 1.5-2.5bn euro target. Orders are flowing in at valve engineering group Rotork, which has had a record quarter for order intake, as the group continued the strong performance seen at the end of 2011. Revenue in the first quarter was up 26% (or 18% on an organic constant currency basis) ahead of the prior year. The order book now stands at £169m, 7.2% higher than at the year end. The visibility of upcoming projects remains good and all regions have shown order intake at higher levels than last year.Bookmaker William Hill had a strong first quarter, driven by growth in online betting, with a gross win margin above the expected range. Group net revenue in the first three months of 2012 was 12% higher than the year before, with bet revenue from the High Street chain of betting shops up 5%, while online net revenue grew by 33%. Group operating profit was up 19% year-on-year.International Airlines Group has officially completed the purchase of bmi airlines from Lufthansa. The airline will be integrated into British Airways and consultation has begun already with bmi mainline staff and their trade unions, IAG said.