London pre-open: FTSE to track US stocks higher

17th Aug 2012 07:31

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 14 points from yesterday's close of 5,835, tracking gains seen in the US and Asia over night. Investor sentiment was given a boost by comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said Germany was committed to doing everything within its power to rescue the single currency. Remarks from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who said that he sees "growing room for monetary policy operation" as inflation slows down, also served to push equities higher. Pennon Group said trading since the end of March has been in line with management expectations, with the water operations going well and the waste management arm battling tough market conditions. South West Water is continuing its strong performance against the 2010-2015 regulatory contract and is well placed to outperform the assumptions contained therein, Pennon said.Mining giant Rio Tinto is to tap the US bond market with three fixed-rate bond issues due to mature in five, 10 and 30 years, respectively. Rio is seeking to raise $3.0bn through the issue of bonds with a weighted average coupon of 2.67% and a weighted average maturity of 12.9 years.Electronic and software solutions company Ultra Electronics says that its acquisition of a US power conversion business is now complete after having received the approval from the other party's shareholders. Ultra was waiting on DGT's shareholders to give the green light before the transaction, which was first agreed in June, could close. The unit was acquired for a cash consideration of $12.5m (subject to a potential working capital adjustment).NR