London pre-open: Small gains expected

29th Jan 2010 07:34

London's blue chips look set to open slightly higher after slumping near the close yesterday mirroring heavy falls in the US.Traders expect Footsie to open around 12 points higher on Friday morning.BP has appointed the former chief executive of mining giant BHP Billiton to the oil company's board as a non-executive director. Paul Anderson, who'll take up his role on 1 February, replaces Sir Tom McKillop, the former chairman of RBS who was forced to step down as a non-executive director of BP last year.Pubs operator Marston's said trading over the 16 week period to 23 January has been encouraging notwithstanding the poor weather in January. The group said the more positive trading momentum it reported last month continued over the important Christmas and New Year festive period. South Africa-focused bank Investec's operating fundamentals 'remain mixed' with activity levels below historic trends despite recent stability in financial markets. Net operating income before impairments on loans and advances rose by 1% in the nine months to end December.Support services and asset management firm Mitie said it has performed well since 1 October and has had a good start to the second half of the year. Earnings continue to grow in line with management expectations and the group said it is confident that earnings for the full year will also meet forecasts.Hull-based telecoms group KCOM has signed a five year contract with Phones4U to consolidate all the mobile phones retailer's telecoms services into a single source.