London pre-open: FTSE to start the day in negative territory

12th Oct 2012 07:26

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 10 points from yesterday's close of 5,830, as worries over the Eurozone persist and reflecting the mixed results seen in the US on Thursday.Stocks on the other side of the Atlantic were initially boosted by jobless data, which showed a fall to levels not seen in over four years, but then dampened by confusion over the report's validity, with some claiming it was the effect of seasonal factors and suggesting that the decline was due to one of the larger states delaying its re-certification process. The ONS will publish construction output data for August at 9:30, the data will be the last published official input into the preliminary estimate of Q3 GDP growth, which is due out on 25 October.International economic announcements out today include the US Producer Price Index and the EU Industrial Production reading. In company news, financial services provider Hargreaves Lansdown said revenue, assets under administration (AuA) and client numbers all hit record levels in the July-September quarter, the firm's quietest period of the financial year. AuA increased by £2.2bn in the three months to the end of September to £28.5bn, while revenue in the period rose 20% year-on-year to £58.7m. The group said it has made an excellent start to October.Building materials supplier Travis Perkins saw like-for-like sales fall back in the group's second quarter (to end-September), as the group struggled with the poor weather and the competing attraction of the Olympics. Total sales in the quarter were down 2.4% year-on-year, although the group noted that the quarter this year had one less trading day. Like-for-like sales per trading day were down 3.5% on the corresponding period of last year.AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, has switched to a geographic operational structure. Simon Naylor, John Pearson and Hisham Mahmoud have been promoted to be Group Presidents of Americas, Europe and Growth Regions respectively. All will report directly to the Chief Executive, Samir Brikho.Questor in the Telegraph says to avoid Rangers's coming flotation. The company, which went into administration owing about £134m to creditors, was bought by a consortium led by businessman Charles Green and now plans to raise up to £20m by listing 50% to 60% of its shares on the London Stock Exchange. It says that football clubs are typically poor investments and struggle to make profits and pay dividends.