London pre-open: Rally has legs

6th Oct 2010 07:34

The ripple from last night's leap on Wall Street should hit our shores when trading starts this morning, sending London's leading index to fresh five-month highs.Futures prices currently indicate a gain of around 20 points in early deals following a 193-point surge in the US Tuesday. The FTSE 100 hasn't been above 5,650 since the end of April.Supermarket chain Sainsbury's has outdone arch rival Tesco, reporting a 2% increase in like for like sales excluding fuel for the first half, in line with market expectations. Britain's number three supermarket grew like for like sales, ignoring petrol, by 2.9% in the second quarter. It was 1.2% in the first three months. Tesco managed just 0.3% in the first half, 0.4% for the second quarter and 0.1% for the first.Rio Tinto and BHP Billitonwill likely see some action. Late last night, Rio said it has not made any decision about a possible $116bn iron ore joint venture with BHP in Western Australia. There are reports Rio has killed the deal off after failing to get regulatory approval.Midlands-based pub group and brewer Marston's reports improving trends in each of its divisions compared to last year. Earnings before tax and exceptional items in the year to end September are also in line with expectations, the firm added. The brewing arm's turnover and operating profit will be slightly ahead of last year. Hungry Britons have been tucking into the bacon rolls sold by Greggs, contributing to continued sales growth for the savoury snacks seller. Total sales for the 39 weeks ended 2 October increased by 2.6%, while like-for-like (LFL) sales grew 0.5%. Sales growth slowed some in the third quarter to 0.2%. "We anticipate that like-for-like sales in the final quarter will be broadly flat and therefore marginally positive over the year as a whole," said chief executive Ken McMeikan.