London pre-open: Flat start expected for FTSE

10th Jul 2012 07:35

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up two points from yesterday's close of 5,627 with gains in the US expected to do little to boost sentiment in early trading and with concerns over China again weighing on the benchmark.China's imports rose less than expected last month while export growth slowed. More important even perhaps, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the nation's economy faces "relatively large" downward pressures.As a possible offset to the above, Eurozone finance ministers yesterday approved €30bn in immediate aid for Spanish banks. Closer to home, the RICS house price index fell to -22 for the month of June from -17 (Consensus: -16).Retail sales on the other hand increased at a 1.4% year-on-year clip in June, their fastest annual pace since the end of last year, according to the latest data available from the British Retail Consortium. Data on the UK´s external trade and industrial production are due out at 09:30.Lastly, Germany´s Constitutional Court is due to vote today on the legality of the European Stability Mechanism. Egypt-focused gold mining Centamin achieved record production in the second quarter and said that it saw strong performance on all key operating metrics. Centamin, which operates through its flagship Sukari Gold Mine, saw total gold production jump to 67,422 ounces in the three months to June 30th, a 40% increase on the second quarter of 2011 and a 37% improvement on the preceding quarter.Balfour Beatty said it was confident it would perform in line with expectations this year, as it updated the market ahead of its six month results. However, the statement painted a mixed picture as economic headwinds, cost pressures and government cutbacks impact the company. The construction group said there had been no material change in trading conditions since its first quarter statement in May and its order book had remained stable at £15bn.Second quarter like-for-like (LFL) sales took a tumble at High Street giant Marks and Spencer, though the food business held up well, and full year guidance remains unchanged. Group sales in the 13 weeks to June 30th were down 0.7% on the corresponding period of the previous year. Total UK sales were down 0.9% year-on-year with food sales up 2.9% and general merchandise (GM) sales down 5.1%. LFL sales in the UK were down 2.8%, with food sales up 0.6% and GM sales down 6.8%.