London pre-open: Modest rise forecast for FTSE

1st May 2013 07:36

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will edge up seven points from yesterday's close of 6,430, balancing gains seen in the US overnight with caution ahead of tomorrow's central bank decision. America's three key US equity benchmarks finished higher on Tuesday, buoyed by encouraging data from the Institute for Supply Management, indicating that the country would continue to see an upward trend in economic growth over the coming year. Meanwhile, the majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg believe that the Eurozone´s monetary authority will cut rates on Thursday.In UK company news, HICL Infrastructure has completed the acquisition of a 50 per cent equity and loan note interest in the Tameside General Hospital PFI project from Balfour Beatty. The £78m project was sold for £16m, generating a profit of £9.0m for Balfour. The transaction brings its total number of infrastructure investments to 82.Distribution and outsourcing firm Bunzl has bought three units from Australian industrial and safety company Jeminex in an attempt to expand its footprint in a key market. The businesses, all based in Sydney, focus on three specialist markets and "significantly increases the size of our business in Australasia and extends our operations there into the safety market which is a successful sector for us in many countries", according to Chief Executive Officer Michael Roney.BG Group said on Wednesday its Mzia-2 well offshore Tanzania has revealed better than expected resources following a drill stem test in block 1. The test on Mzia-2, the first well completed on a Cretaceous discovery in deep water off Tanzania, flowed at a maximum rate of 57m standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, constrained by testing equipment.