London pre-open: US stimulus hopes to drive gains

13th Oct 2010 07:38

Last night's recovery in the states following the Federal Reserve's hint at further stimulus measures for the American economy should feed through to London early on.The Dow Jones managed a small gain after trading lower for much of the session. The FTSE 100 is expected to add about 30 points at the start of play.Standard Chartered, the emerging markets focused bank, is preparing for stricter capital requirements for banks with a £3.26bn cash call. The company intends to issue the shares at 1,280p on the basis of 1 new share for every 8 held. The board believes that the new Basel III banking arrangements will see regulators raise requirements relating to minimum capital ratio levels and they may accelerate the transition timetable. The funds from the issue will enable the company to accommodate such increases without having to constrain risk weighted asset growth.Burberry's underlying sales matched forecasts for the first half and the trendy clothing group is predicting full-year adjusted profit will be in the top half of the range of estimates. Underlying sales for the six months to 30 September jumped 17%, or 21% on a reported basis, to £641m. Comparable store sales rose 9%. Mexico based precious metals miner Fresnillo said silver production reached a record level in the third quarter. Silver production hit 10.69m ounces, while gold production was also on the up, with 91,822 ounces of the yellow stuff unearthed in the third quarter, a 44.4% increase on the corresponding period of last year. The company said it on track to achieve its production targets for 2010 of 340,000 ounces of attributable gold and 41.1m ounces of silver.