London pre-open: Early gains ahead

London's top stocks look set for a positive start to the week, with traders expecting Footsie to add around 30 points in early dealings.American food giant Kraft is reportedly preparing to raise its hostile offer for UK chocolate maker Cadbury before next week's final deadline. The new offer is expected to improve Kraft's bid from 771p per share to at least 820p, the Sunday Times writes, though the UK company's shareholders might be tempted to hold out for an even higher price. Kraft has until midnight on Tuesday to change its bid. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said market conditions in both the UK and North America during 2009 were better than those experienced during the previous year, although they still remained challenging. The group expects to report full year results for the year ended 31 December in line with forecasts. Year end net debt was about £750m, in line with the group's recently upgraded guidance and substantially below the £1,529m at 31 December 2008. ASOS, the online fashion retailer, enjoyed a good Christmas with both sales and margins strong and growth both in the UK and abroad. Sales rose 30% year on year in the 5 weeks to 3 January and were up by 38% for the 42 weeks to 17 January. UK sales rose by 25% and international by 102% over the 42-week period. Gross margin rose by 80 basis points for the 5 weeks to 3 January 2010, while active customers rose by 25% to 1.5m.Redrow announced the appointment of Barbara Richmond as new finance director with immediate effect. Richmond replaces David Arnold who is waving goodbye to the housebuilder after seven years at the company.