London pre-open: Losses likely

15th Dec 2010 07:35

Late weakness on Wall Street took the steam out of US stocks last night and looks like causing an early slip in London Wednesday.Futures prices are indicating are drop of around 26 points for the FTSE 100 when trading gets underway.Oil company BG Group has discovered gas in the deepwater Qiongdongnan basin in the South China Sea at its first attempt. The Lingshui 22-1-1 exploration well on Block 64/11, about 130 kilometres offshore, encountered gas-bearing sands, BG confirmed Wednesday. It will now conduct further analysis of the well results to increase understanding of the hydrocarbon potential in the Block. Early signs for Christmas trade are "very encouraging" at SuperGroup, which ramped up sales by 65% in the first half, driving a 69% surge in underlying profit at the firm focused on affordable youth fashion. Profit before tax, the impact of financial derivatives, and a new accounting policy, jumped to £13.5m in the 26 weeks ended 31 October, up from £8m a year ago. Sales rose to £90.3m from £54.7m.Hammerson and its partner, the Oman Investment Fund, have sold their interest in the Bishops Square office building, London E1, to two funds run by JP Morgan. The consideration is £557m against a value at end June of £510m with net passing rents at that time of £35m. Hammerson will net £79m, representing a surplus of £34m over the June book value.