London open: Dull start for Footsie

Three-figure gains in the US overnight haven't helped London much with blue chips going lower in early dealings.Property groups are weak with all of the sector heavyweights - British Land, Land Securities and Hammerson - under pressure. Banks are offsetting some of this weakness after the Times reported that Barclays is in talks to buy the banking division of Standard Life. The move is part of its strategy to snap up businesses while its rivals try to rebuild their balance sheets after the financial crisis. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are also ahead this morning.On the update front, contract caterer Compass reports trading has gone well in the fourth quarter with underlying earnings to be up by around 14% on a constant currency basis. Operating profit will get a boost of £120m from the movement of our key currencies compared with last year. Daily Mail remains confident it will meet market forecasts for profits this year of £180m, despite revenue in the 11 months to August dropping by 9%. The consumer side felt the brunt of the sales downturn, the newspaper group said, though the regional arm has stabilised. Business to Business revenue is up by up 2%, including the impact of the stronger dollar.Europe's largest tour operator TUI Travel said today it is on course to meet full-year forecasts and is raising about £440m of funds to refinance its £900m shareholder loan with parent TUI AG. TUI intends to offer £300m of senior unsecured convertible bonds, while banks will provide additional revolving credit facilities of £140m. In a separate statement, the company said trading is in line with expectations and it remains 'satisfied' with business across all open seasons.Pub group Enterprise Inns has seen the number of tenanted pubs facing closure reduce slightly and demand lessen for its tenant support scheme, though the trading environment still remains very tough.Merchant bank Close Brothers produced a 'solid' full-year performance thanks in no small part to a doubling of profits at market maker Winterflood, although profit still fell 11%. Jessops, Britain's largest photographic and camera retailer, will today come under the control of its bank, pension fund and an employee trust under a debt-for-equity swap.