London pre-open: FTSE to fall further on Eurozone concerns

19th Mar 2013 07:26

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 10 points from yesterday's close of 6,458, on continued concerns over the Eurozone ahead of an important vote in Cyprus regarding the taxing of bank deposits as part of the bailout deal. But declines look set to be limited by a broadly upbeat trading session in Asia, with Japan boosted by expectations of policy easing. The main US equities slipped Monday as the plan to tax bank accounts in Cyprus to pay for the country's bailout sparked fears of a renewed European debt crisis. Cyprus accounts for just 0.2% of the Eurozone economy but there is concern the country's financial troubles will have a spillover effect on the 17-nation bloc, one of America's major trade partners. Today's UK economic announcements include the consumer price index, producer price index and retail price index, while abroad the agenda includes the German and EU ZEW surveys, EU new car registrations and US housing starts. In UK company news, Sainsbury unveiled strong fourth quarter results on Tuesday as the supermarket saw customer transactions grow to a record 22.9m per week. The grocer's total sales for the 10 weeks to March 16th grew 7.1%, driven in part by quality control amid a Europe-wide horsemeat scandal. Sainsbury was the only one of the four largest supermarkets, which also include Tesco, Asda and Morrison, to increase its market share last month after the Food Standards Agency ruled its beef products were free of horsemeat. Warren East, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ARM Holdings, the semiconductor intellectual property (IP) supplier, has decided to call it quits after nearly 12 years as frontman. East, who has been with ARM for 19 years in total, is said to have transformed the company since becoming CEO.Domino Printing said sales in the four months to the end of February 2013 rose 11% from the same period last year and while it remains cautious about market conditions in Europe it has seen an improvement in North America and Asia.