London pre-open: Small drop expected on FTSE

26th Nov 2012 07:27

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down five points from Friday's close of 5,819, as investors show caution as they await news on both the situation in Europe and with the looming so-called fiscal cliff in the US. This predication comes despite the fact the main US equity benchmarks closed Friday's shortened session with very large percentage gains as investors were busy tracking demand from American consumers following Thanksgiving as a means of getting a better pulse on the outlook for the economy. Gains of almost 1.5% had a knock-on effect in Asia, where indicies made modest gains overnight. Today is expected to be a rather quiet day on the economic news front, with things picking up later in the week. In company news, Intertek, the FTSE 100 quality and safety testing group, has acquired 75 per cent of the issued capital of LSI, a global minerals reference testing laboratory for five million euros. LSI is located in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with 27 full-time employees. The company will form part of Intertek's Commodities division.Following a review of the business translation and communications software group, SDL said it expects a profits shortfall of between £3.0m and £4.0m against current market expectations for the financial year ending December 31st 2012. The board expects to report revenues of around £270m to £272m and profits before tax and amortization of £36m to £37m for the year as the business struggles against poor sales and marketing execution, as well as the tough economic environment.Aberdeen Asset Management, Europe's second largest fund manager, has announced a 15 per cent full year increase in underlying profit before tax, to £347.8m, versus £301.9m a year ago. The rise came on the back of an 11% increase in revenues, which reached £869.2m. Significantly, assets under management increased by 10% to £187.2bn, from last year's £169.9bn.