London pre-open: FTSE to track US stocks higher

6th Jun 2012 07:24

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 35 points from Friday's close of 5,260, tracking US stocks higher following the UK bank holiday weekend. The merger of HSBC's Omani operations with Oman International Bank (OIB) has been approved, giving the global banking giant a majority interest. HSBC Bank Middle East first announced its intention to combine with OIB, Oman's fifth-largest bank, on April 18th in an attempt to expand its presence in a "key Gulf economy". It has now been officially approved by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in Oman. HBSC owns 51% in the new entity, named HSBC Bank Oman, which begins operating on Wednesday.Energy firm Premier Oil has had an encouraging drilling result on the Carnaby exploration well 28/09-5A in the Central North Sea Block 28/9. Initial analysis indicates that the well encountered 51 feet of net oil in the main Tay sandstone within an estimated 86 feet oil column. Pressure data and sampling indicates that the API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity of the oil is 24 degrees and is of similar quality to that established at the nearby Catcher discoveries. Telecoms giant Vodafone has confirmed that it is talking with Australian peer Telstra about buying its New Zealand subsidiary, TelstraClear. The division was first created in 2001 through the combination of Telstra unit TelstraSaturn and BT's Clear Communications; it is now one of New Zealand's biggest full-services telecommunications groups and has around 300,000 customers. According to the Financial Times, the deal could be worth around A$300-400m, or £191-255m.