London pre-open: Stocks to start lower

7th Dec 2009 07:34

UK shares look set to give up a little ground first thing Monday in reaction to a dip in form on Wall Street after London closed on Friday.The Dow Jones had traded a three-figure gain for much of its morning session following a sparkling set of jobs numbers, but saw its lead trimmed later as the dollar surged on rate hike talk.Over here, mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have further cemented the merger of their Western Australian iron ore assets by signing binding agreement on the proposed joint venture. The pair said today's deal covers all aspects of how the joint venture will operate and be governed. They've filed submissions with the European Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The 50:50 tie-up should complete in the second half of 2010 and bring savings of about US$10bn a year.A private equity group is sniffing around Shanks Group, the waste management firm, and could be prepared to pay 135p cash per share. The Shanks board, however, is holding out for at least 150p, after holding talks with its two largest shareholders. Shanks's shares closed at 90.1p on Friday. It said the approach was 'highly preliminary and unsolicited.' Cadbury said it will publish its formal response to the unwelcome bid from Kraft Foods on 14 December. The UK confectionery firm said it noted the publication of the offer document from Kraft and said that under US securities law it is not allowed to publish any further information until after it has issued its formal response. A presentation for investors and analysts will be held at 10:30am on the 14th when the company will also give its regular pre-close trading update.Electricity provider Scottish & Southern Energy has taken umbrage at the latest price control proposals from industry regulator Ofgem. The company said it will have to reassess its appetite for further investment in electricity distribution and transmission assets after digesting the final proposals for the electricity distribution price control for the five years from 1 April 2010.Engineer Renishaw said it expects first half and full year results to remain unchanged from previous guidance in October as the group's performance continues to improve. The group, which sells high-end engineering products such as calibration and neurological equipment, confirmed in September that a surge in orders meant that it could relax the 20% voluntary reduction in salaries that had been brought in at the start of 2009.