London pre-open: More losses expected after markets open

12th Jun 2013 07:42

Markets are expected to pick up where they left off on Wednesday morning, extending losses after a heavy sell-off the day before. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 35 points from yesterday's close of 6,340. The index fell 1.0% on Tuesday due to a combination of rising government bond yields, falling commodity prices and an underwhelming policy statement from the Bank of Japan. It has now dropped around 7.0% since hitting a 13-year closing high of 6,840 on May 22nd, as speculation continues to ramp up that the Federal Reserve will soon begin to 'taper' its quantitative easing programme."Last night's losses in the US and this morning's losses in Asia will therefore ensure that European markets once again open lower today for the third day in succession, as investors fret about the possibility that the comfort blanket of fairly easy money that they have become used to for so long may not be as freely available," said Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets. He said this means that "market and stock valuations may well have to stand much more on their own two feet and their fundamentals to justify some of the rather lofty valuations". Stocks to watchAs expected, supermarket giant Sainsbury has delivered its 34th straight quarter of like-for-like (LFL) sales growth, as it hailed its outperformance and continued growth in market share. Total sales in the firm's first quarter rose 3.6% (+3.3% excluding fuel) with strong growth seen in its own higher-priced brand, Taste the Difference, which grew sales over 10% to £1.0bn for the first time. LFL sales in the 12 weeks to June 8th rose by 0.7%, (+0.8% excluding fuel).FTSE 100-listed real estate investment trust British Land has confirmed that the new five year unsecured revolving credit facility signed in May 2013 has closed at £310m, following the addition of a further bank.Defence, aerospace and security giant BAE Systems has named Roger Carr as its new Chairman, starting from October this year. Carr, 66, will succeed Dick Olver in the first quarter 2014, following a transition period, the company said in a statement. Carr is currently Chairman of Centrica and was until recently President of the CBI.