London pre-open: Footsie spinning its wheels

Stocks are set for an indecisive start, with bears pointing to weaker than expected US manufacturing data and bulls focussing on the successful passage through the US House of Representatives of the budget deficit reduction bill last night.City traders expect the FTSE 100 will open a couple of points firmer. Much will depend on the market's reaction to figures from banking giant Barclays, which saw income and profits fall in the half year to 30 June after the "lacklustre" economic environment hurt income generation in many of the bank's major markets.Pre-tax profits for the period fell to £2.64m from £3.94m over the same period the previous year on total income that slipped to £15.24m from £15.73m.High-flying Scottish engineering company Weir Group is set for an even better year than it previously expected, as new orders streamed in during the first half of the year. Order input shot up 43% to £1,225m from £859m in the corresponding period of 2010. Revenue grew 33% to £1,031m from £775m the year before while underlying profit before tax climbed 24% to £178m from £144m last year.Wolseley, the building supplies firm that nearly collapsed in the credit crunch under the weight of its own debt, has concluded the successful syndication of two 5¼ year revolving credit facilities totalling £820m. The new arrangement will save Wolseley in the region of £12m a year versus the cost of the old facilities. Inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebon saw adjusted profit before tax slide to £73.1m at the interim stage from £78.6m last year, on revenue that dipped to £454.8m from £475.8m last year.--jh