London pre-open: Dow slump to hit Footsie

It's not the welcome back from the Bank Holiday weekend that London would have wanted. Last night's slump on Wall Street is expected to send markets tumbling over here this morning.

The Dow Jones fell 140 points Monday as traders digested disappointing personal income ad spending data. Americans' disposable income fell last month for the first time since January.

Futures prices indicate a 50-point decline for the FTSE 100 early on.

In company news, Bunzl has delivered half-year results bang in line with expectations as a recovery in North American revenues offset ongoing weakness at the distribution and outsourcing group's business in the UK & Ireland. Revenue rose 2% to £2.3bn in the six months to 30 June, with North America growing 5% to £1.3bn, Continental Europe also up 5% to £459m and the UK & Ireland down 5% to £494m. Profit before tax, intangible amortisation and acquisition related costs increased 8% to £125.1m as recent cost cutting helped improve margins, mainly in the UK & Ireland and the Rest of the World.

Online gaming giant 888 Holdings said trading in August has been significantly stronger than in July but it was not all good news for shareholders, as the company cancelled its interim dividend. Total operating income in the first half of 2010 rose to $130.2m from $117/9m the year before. The business to customer (B2C) division saw revenue grow to $110.4m from $93.8m, but the business to business (B2B) segment's revenues fell to $19.8m from $24.3m. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation tumbled to $12.6m from $20.6m, while profit before tax dived to $8.4m from $14.9m.

Encore Oil has described as "superb" the latest drilling results from it Cladhan appraisal well located in UK Northern North Sea block 210/29a. "This is a superb result from Cladhan and is at the upper end of our expectations regarding the quality and quantity of reservoir sands," chief executive Alan Booth said. The latest test encountered "excellent quality oil bearing sandstones", resulting in a gross hydrocarbon column of 159 feet with 102 feet of net hydrocarbon pay.