London pre-open: Small gain expected

21st Oct 2009 07:35

London's top stocks are expected to open largely flat, with traders forecasting a 10 point gain for footsie.Home Retail reported a 3% rise in half year sales and said trading at both Argos and Homebase exceeded its expectations. Sales rose to £2,805m in the 26 weeks to 29 August from £2,736m, reflecting growth of 1.7% at Argos and 4.4% at Homebase. Like-for-like sales were down 2.1% at Argos and up 2.8% at Homebase.Power station operator Drax is trading in line with expectations for the current year but said conditions remain challenging. 'Since publishing our half year results on 4 August, trading conditions in the commodity markets in which we operate remain challenging,' said the group. Miner BHP Billiton reported record iron ore production over the past three months amid signs of stabilising demand from both emerging and developed countries. 'Over the last three months there has been increasingly positive economic news across most economies. Chinese economic growth continues to be robust on the back of strong domestic focused consumption and infrastructure-based stimulus spending,' it said. Demand for property ahead of the Olympics helped East London focused housebuilder Telford Homes nearly double completions in the past six months, but a lack of mortgage finance remains a constraint.