London pre-open: Relief rebound expected

8th Apr 2011 07:34

The market looks set to breathe a sigh of relief that yesterday's earthquake aftershock in Japan, which sent global markets into decline, wass not as devastating as feared. City traders expect the top share index to pile on 40 points or so to last night's closing value of 6,007.Indian mining giant Vedanta produced record volumes of metals in the fourth quarter as it sought to benefit from soaring commodity prices. In its Indian zinc-lead-silver operations, mined metal production was a record 231,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter and 840,000 tonnes for the full year, respectively 19% and 9% higher than the same period last year.Student accommodation firm Unite Group saw a 1.7% increase in the net asset value (NAV) of its UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) in the first quarter of 2011, to £0.822 per unit. "Reservations for the USAF portfolio for the forthcoming academic year are already at 60%, ahead of the 57% level achieved at the same time last year," said chief financial officer, Joe Lister.Trading in the year to end-March was in line with management expectations at information technology services firm Phoenix IT. Strong cash flow saw net debt subside to £62.4m at the end of March, down from £67.9m the year before.Landkom's crops were largely unaffected by the severe winter weather, the Ukrainian grain and oilseeds grower said. Just 2.14% of its crops planted during autumn were lost, the company said, with the winter wheat remaining completely unscathed. ---jh