London pre-open: Stocks to open up ahead of Eurozone meeting

30th Mar 2012 07:34

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 38 points from yesterday's close of 5,742, as market sentiment grows ahead of today's meeting of Eurozone finance ministers who will discuss whether or not to increase the region's bailout fund. Sweeteners giant Tate and Lyle said trading in the final quarter of its financial year has been in line with expectations, consolidating a good performance for the year. In Speciality Food Ingredients, T&L achieved good sales value growth with volume growth across all major product categories. Drugs giant AstraZeneca has had a bad run of late so news that a US District Court has ruled that the formulation patent protecting its SEROQUEL XR blockbuster drug is valid will be most welcome. The US District Court for the District of New Jersey also ruled that a number of generic drugs makers have all infringed the SEROQUEL XR formulation patent. The SEROQUEL XR formulation patent expires in 2017.Mining giant Rio Tinto has joined the China Beijing Metals Exchange (CBMX), a new electronic trading platform providing additional iron ore trading channels in the Chinese market. The CBMX brings together buyers and suppliers of commodities and is thought to offer better transparency than existing market, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.