London pre-open: Higher start expected after heavy sell-off

8th Aug 2013 07:31

Stocks are expected to rise slightly on Thursday morning as the FTSE 100 rebounds after a heavy sell-off the day before on concerns over US stimulus and the Bank of England's forward guidance.Helping sentiment this morning is some better-than-expected trade figures from China overnight which showed a 5.1% and 10.9% jump in exports and imports in July, respectively.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 16 points from yesterday's close of 6,511.Nevertheless, worries about the tapering of US stimulus are likely to still be on investors' minds as Federal Reserve officials throw more weight is thrown behind the argument to scale back quantitative easing. Sandra Pianalto, President of the Fed Bank of Cleveland, sparked falls on Wall Street last night after saying that there has been "clearer signs of a more sustained recovery" in the labour market over the last few months. "In light of this progress, and if the labour market remains on the stronger path that it has followed since last fall, then I would be prepared to scale back the monthly pace of asset purchases," she said.Stocks to watchSchroders achieved a 25% increase in pre-tax profit to £221.7m in the first half as assets under management (AuM) and net inflows increased. AuM was up 21% to £235.7bn compared to a year earlier while net inflows jumped 67% to £4.5bn. Oil and gas exploration and development firm Cairn Energy is expanding its operations in West Africa by farming in to Chariot Oil & Gas' C19 block offshore Mauritania, an attractive new country entry according to the company. "The opportunity in Mauritania presents an attractive new country entry, building on our existing Atlantic Margin portfolio in Senegal and Morocco. By developing an increased strategic presence in the under-explored and highly prospective new plays in this region, we can generate both operational and geological synergies and fully apply our proven frontier exploration skills," said Cairn's Chief Executive Simon Thomson.International Engineering group AMEC has scored a multi-million dollar contract by Sempra U.S. Gas & Power to design and construct its Copper Mountain Solar 3 project near Las Vegas, Nevada. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement is for the third phase of the 250-megawatt (MW) solar project, where construction has already begun.BC