London's benchmark index is expected to open more or less flat on Monday morning, with analysts saying that the impressive rally seen so far in 2013 could be running out of steam.

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up just a couple of points from Friday's close of 6,347. Since the start of 2013, the index has risen a whopping 7.62% and is now trading at levels not seen since mid-2008.
 
"We may see a break in the recent stock market rally this week, as corporate earnings season begins to wind down and focus turns to the Eurozone," said market analyst James Hughes from Alpari.

"Corporate earnings season has been a major driver behind the stock market rally over the past month, and with that now coming to an end, we could now see the rally run out of steam. Economic data has been quite mixed over the past few weeks, with the fiscal cliff in the US taking its toll on everything from sentiment to consumer spending."

Nevertheless, Hughes did highlight Friday's jobs report from the US, which showed huge upward revisions to previous months' data.

Company news

Barclays has announced that its long-running Finance Director, Chris Lucas, has stepped down ahead of the group's conclusion of its strategic review in the coming weeks. Mark Harding, the Group General Counsel who has been with the bank for 10 years, has also decided to call it quits, the company said in a statement on Monday morning.

Diversified mining group Anglo American is to take a loss of 225m dollars at its troubled South African platinum division for 2012, the company announced on Monday morning. Anglo American Platinum, or Amplats, reported a IFRS headline loss of 1,468m South African rand, or $170m, for the 12 months to December 31st, compared with a$527m profit in 2011. The contribution to parent company Anglo American's underlying earnings would be -$225m, compared with a $410m profit the year before.

Luxury interior furnishings group Walker Greenbank said it expects pre-tax profits for the year to be ahead of the top end of analyst forecasts, following a good first half performance. The group, which designs and manufactures fabrics, wallpapers and furnishings and whose brands include Sanderson and Morris & Co, said group sales are expected to rise 2.3% on the previous year at £75.7m.



BC

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