London pre-open: Stocks to rise ahead of ECB meeting

3rd May 2012 07:30

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 21 points from yesterday's close of 5,758 ahead of a meeting of the European Central Bank, at which the bank will be able to address the poor European manufacturing data which was revealed earlier in the week. Supermarket group Morrisons has said that its financial outlook for the year ending January 2013 remains unchanged despite like-for-like (LFL) sales falling in the first quarter. In the 13 weeks to April 29th, the retailer said total sales (excluding VAT and fuel) rose by 1.5%. When including fuel, sales were 3.1% higher. However, LFL sales (excluding VAT and fuel) fell by 1.0%, but rose 0.9% including fuel. Gold miner Randgold Resources said it put in a 'robust performance' in the first quarter of 2012 in spite of the challenges it has faced in Mali, as a military coup in the country saw the stock lose around a quarter of its value in the last two months.Insurance group RSA said it had made a good start to the year, with growth led by emerging markets, especially those in Latin America. Net written premiums of £2.2bn in the first quarter were up by 5% from a year earlier, with one percentage point of that accounted for by an increase in business volumes while the rest is down to premium increases.