London pre-open: Stocks set to bounce back

20th Nov 2009 07:41

After yesterday's shake-out, London's leading shares look set to start the final day of the week on a bright note, with the FTSE 100 expected to open around 17 points higher at 5,284.Product quality and safety tester Intertek is in talks to buy the business assurance division of Det Norske Veritas (DNV) with a large chunk of its own shares.Valve actuator and gearbox maker Rotork expects this year’s profits will be at the upper end of market forecasts. Although order intake in the third quarter was down 3.4% on the levels seen a year ago, some of the markets in which the company operates are showing signs of a rise in activity.Fund manager Gartmore has confirmed its intention to float in London with an offer expected to be completed by mid-December. The fund manager reported that business had been good in the third quarter with £924m of net inflows, which helped push funds under management up to £21.8bn as at 30 September, up 17% since year-end 2008 and 34% since February 2009.London-based pub group Fuller's lifted underlying first half profits by 18% as it shrugged off the recession, though it is more cautious going forward.Weapons group Chemring has raised $280m through the issue of loan notes placed with a number of institutional investors. The blended interest rate on the issue is in the region of 5.5%, which, the group noted, is a rate more favourable than its current lending facilities.