London pre-open: Stocks to retreat

23rd Mar 2011 07:33

Selling on Wall Street last night and in Asia this morning look like knocking London back for a second day.Worries about the nuclear situation in Japan and violence in Libya and the Middle East are still unsettling investors.Caution ahead of today's Budget speech will also be keeping some on the sidelines. Futures prices point to an early 22-point drop for the FTSE 100.Supermarket giant Sainsbury's grew like for like sales by slightly less than expected during the fourth quarter following a widely-predicted slowdown since Christmas. Like for like sales excluding fuel but including VAT rose 1% in the 10 weeks to 19 March compared with 3.6% in the third quarter and the 1.5% predicted by analysts at Nomura.Britain's number three grocer increased like for like sales by 4.2% including fuel, giving a full-year increase of 4.7%. Total sales for the quarter increased 6.8% and 3.5% without fuel. "We expect the consumer environment to remain tough, with our customers facing fuel price inflation, uncertain employment prospects and government spending cuts," King said.HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver could be in line for a £13m pay package this year if shareholders approve, according to reports. The bank's compensation committee is proposing Gulliver should get a £1.25m base salary in 2011, a bonus of as much as three times that amount and a long-term incentive payment equivalent to six times his salary, Bloomberg reported, quoting unnamed HSBC sources.Property giant Hammerson has splashed out over £200m to snap up the Centrale shopping centre in Croydon plus five others as it executes its plan to invest into areas with potential. "The acquisition provides Hammerson with an excellent opportunity to secure a group of good assets in strong trading locations. There is scope for Hammerson to create value through the rejuvenation of the principal assets (Centrale, Monument Mall and Elliott's Field) via development and asset management initiatives," the group said.