London open: More gains for Footsie

Blue chips made progress early on for a sixth consecutive day, though all eyes will be on the US non-farm payrolls number at 1.30pm. US and Asian stocks made posted modest gains overnight.Autonomy is higher for a second day. Gossip doing the rounds yesterday was acquisition-hungry US software giants Microsoft and Oracle are in the frame as likely bidders at a price north of 2500p per share. BP's bill for cleaning up after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has hit $8bn (£5.2bn), up over £1bn in less than a month, and the relief well is not expected to intercept the broken MC252 well for a couple of weeks.Soco has plugged and abandoned its first wildcat exploration drilling well at Nganga 1 (NGA-1) in the Nganzi Block, onshore the Democratic Republic of Congo, after hitting water. HSBC has joined other banks in warning it could leave the UK if the Commission on Banking recommends the break-up of the country's major banks.It's been a tough six months for banana importer Fyffes but conditions have "normalised" over the summer months and the group remains on target to meet forecasts, though profits are well down on last year. Sports and leisure equipment firm Tandem said it expects full year results to be well ahead of market expectations and will pay an interim dividend. Revenue from its Dawes cycle business showed exceptional growth, well ahead of market performance, it added.