London pre-open: FTSE to continue to climb higher

11th Oct 2013 07:25

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 28 points higher than Thursday's close of 6,430.49, as investors begin to rebuild their confidence on hopes that lawmakers can come to a deal over the debt ceiling to stave off a default. Both US and Asian markets put it a strong performance overnight, with Wall Street benchmarks jumping at least 2% each - the Dow Jones Industrial Average specifically surged 323.09 points to 15,126.07 (+2.18%), its best one-day increase since December 2011.Back in the UK, today will see the first day of (conditional) trading of Royal Mail shares, starting at a price of 330p. A reported 368 staff members did not take up their portion of free shares. Elsewhere, Chemring Group's UK subsidiary, Chemring Countermeasures, has been awarded a "significant" contract from a Middle Eastern customer, the proceeds of which will be recognised in the current financial year. However, the group warned that its North American business continued to be affected by the US government shutdown and said the full impact was unknown - although it would have a definite impact on October order intake and deliveries in the US Department of Defense. The defence company also admitted that it has suffered a reduction in revenue as a result of quality and production issues, particularly at Kilgore, and will also suffer from an adverse move in the sterling/dollar exchange rate, reducing operating by around £8m. The 2014 full-year performance is expected to be less than the anticipated current year outturn, Chemring warned. Lloyds Banking Group is to bid farewell to Australia after agreeing the sale of its assets there for £0.9bn to Westpac Banking Corp. The disposal is in line with Lloyds' strategy of rationalising its international business and concentrating on the UK. The deal includes Capital Finance Australia, a provider of motor and equipment asset finance and corporate lending business BOS International (Australia). Together they made a profit of £80m in 2012.Amur Minerals has completed its exploration field season at its Kun-Manie project in Russia. The company has drilled to a 900 metre long deposit at Kubuk, where 26 of 31 holes contain potentially economic grades of nickel and copper.Also on today's agenda is the release of the latest German inflation figures. Germany's consumer price index is expected to come in at 1.6% in September the same rate as the previous month. NR