London pre-open: Stocks seen lower after summit disappoints

9th Dec 2011 07:39

The Footsie is predicted to open with a steep fall on Friday morning after European leaders last night failed to agree on a treaty change for all 27 members of the EU.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 59 points from yesterday's close of 5,484.Following a 10-hour meeting that ran into the early hours of the morning, 23 out of the 27 member nations agreed to draw up a new treaty to tighten fiscal coordination. However no deal was reached with all EU members, with British Prime Minister David Cameron vetoing a treaty change."We've always said we would do it at 17 if it didn't work at 27. That's what happened," one senior EU diplomat told Reuters.In company news, energy giant Centrica is to buy a package of liquids-rich natural gas assets in west central Alberta, named the Carrot Creek Assets. The firm's North American subsidiary Direct Energy has agreed to acquire the assets from Encana Corporation for C$58m (£37m) in cash. Direct Energy will also give Encana a number of gas-producing wells (and related infrastructure) in southern Alberta as part of the transaction.FTSE 250 miner African Barrick Gold has implemented additional back-up power facilities at its Buzwagi min, following the continual power disruptions throughout Tanzania during 2011 which have affected production. The group has now admitted that it will likely not make its full-year gold production target of 700,000 ounces.House-builder Bellway had been able to grow its order book to £458m (as of 30 November), from £440m the year before, "despite the ongoing concerns over financial markets and their implications for the UK economy," the firm said. Visitor levels and reservations since 1 August have been resilient with the latter increasing by 14% on the year.