FTSE preview: Shares up after Ireland deal

By Reuters
Updated:

 

The FTSE 100 is expected to rise on Monday after falls on Friday, with the European Union finally agreed a rescue package for debt-strapped Ireland, although underlying concerns over weakened euro zone members such as Portugal and Spain remain.

Dealers monitor their screens on the trading floor of IG Index in London

Manic Monday: Shares expected to rise this morning.

The UK blue chip index looks set to climb 15 to 20 points, or as much as 0.4%, according to financial bookmakers, after it closed down 30.23 points, or 0.5%, at 5,668.70 on Friday.

EU finance ministers on Sunday endorsed an €85bn loan package to help Ireland cover the country's bad bank debts and bridge its budget deficit, and approved the outlines of a permanent crisis-resolution system called the European Stability Mechanism.

On the domestic macroeconomics front, Bank of England consumer credit, mortgage lending and mortgage approvals data are scheduled for release.

Also on Monday, the Office for Budget Responsibility is to publish its autumn forecast.

No significant US data is due for release on Monday, with investors' main focus to be on the November US non-farm payrolls, due on Friday.

Greenergy, a supplier of fuel to British supermarket petrol stations, has launched a £1bn-plus bid to buy Total France's UK retail network, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Greenergy, in which the world's no.3 retailer Tesco owns a 35.6% stake with the balance held by management and staff, is also interested in acquiring 460 forecourts from US oil firm Murco, said the newspaper.

BP said it had agreed to sell its stake in Argentina-based oil and gas group Pan American Energy to Bridas Corp, half-owned by China's CNOOC, for $7bn, as it raises cash to pay for the Gulf oil spill.

Shareholders of British Airways and Iberia are expected to approve the merger of the two airlines today, with shareholder meetings taking place.

India's oil secretary S. Sundareshan said a decision on Cairn Energy's application to transfer majority stakes in its Indian assets to Vedanta Resources will be taken before end-February.

Private equity firm Blackstone is drawing up plans to mount a takeover bid of Southern Cross, the British care home operator it used to own, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Henderson Global Investors is weighing up a rescue bid for Gartmore and has asked its advisers JPMorgan Cazenove and UBS to assess the feasibility of buying part or all of the group, The Financial Times said on Saturday.

The Mail on Sunday cites sources as saying Blacks Leisure may be broken up if it fails to find a buyer.

Punch Taverns is considering plans to offload 6,000 tenanted pubs to its bondholders to slash its debt, the Sunday Times reported.

There will be updates today from Acal, Iomart Group, and Phoenix IT.

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