City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 27 points from yesterday's close of 5,795, following in the footsteps of US markets, which yesterday settled lower on poor economic data.

Public sector services group Serco has signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to provide training and support to the British Army prior to deployment on operations around the world. The contract will begin in April 2012 and has a total value to Serco of £55m through to December 2014.

Integrated oil giant BP has again called on US oil services company Transocean to put its hand in its pocket to pay its share of the clean-up costs for the Macondo oil spill. The call came after a US court ruling on Thursday relating to the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in which the court made clear that contractors will be held accountable for their actions under the law, a BP statement said.

FTSE 250 gold miner African Barrick Gold has hiked its previous resources estimates for the Tusker deposit at the Nyanzaga Project in Tanzania. The updated in-pit resource is in excess of four million ounces (Moz) of gold (Au), consisting of 3.481Moz at a grade of 1.47g/t Au indicated and 0.598Moz at 2.05g/t Au inferred, a fourfold increase on the initial estimates of 0.313Moz indicated and 0.650Moz inferred.

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