London pre-open: Modest gains expected

7th Dec 2010 07:37

London's blue-chips are expected to open firmer on balance, with City traders tipping the Footsie will open its account around 20 points higher.Good momentum across all of its areas of operation helped supermarket giant Tesco lift sales by 8.8% in the past three months, though its international businesses again led the way.Plumbing supplies firm Wolseley said its first quarter trading performance was slightly ahead of expectations. Revenue in the three months ended 31 October rose 2% to £3,471m from £3,395m the year before. Like for like sales grew 4%.Engine producer Rolls-Royce has made its second contract win announcement of the week, this time it's a £20m deal to provide the design, propulsion systems and deck machinery for four deep water platform supply vessels.Bank note printer De La Rue is likely to be in focus after it issued a rejection after the close of trading yesterday of the 905p per share offer from French rival Oberthur.