London pre-open: Stocks to track losses in Asia

15th Aug 2012 07:26

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 25 points from yesterday's close of 5,865, tracking losses seen overnight in Asia. Investors are also awaiting the release of minutes from the latest policy meeting of the Bank of England, as well as the July employment report from the Office for National Statistics. Analysts are expecting the second quarter to show a figure of 8.1%, unchanged from the previous quarter. Standard Chartered has reached a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) over claims its US subsidiary illegally processed payments for Iran. According to reports, the emerging market focused bank will pay $340m to settle the claims, and will allow the New York DFS to oversee its compliance activities for at least two years. The New York regulator accused the bank of illegally processing $250bn of payments for Iran. UK banking group Lloyds is intending to sell its interest in a portfolio of private equity-related investments worth over a billion pounds which made a loss last year. The lender said that it has agreed the sale of the investment, with gross assets of around £1,050m and the transfer of underway commitments which are expected to be £220m at completion, to a fund financed by Coller International Partners for a cash consideration of £1,030m.Diversified mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) was hit by a fall in commodity prices and challenging economic conditions in the first half, meaning that both revenues and profits were significantly lower than the same period in 2011. Therefore, while a dividend payout ratio of 18% was maintained, the dividend per share was slashed by 59.4% from 16 cents to 6.5 cents. Revenue in the six months to June 30th declined by 19% from $4,011m to $3,246m.