London pre-open: Mixed start seen

After yesterday's solid showing London looks to be in consolidation mode with City traders predicting the Footsie will open little changed from last night's close.Supermarket giant Sainsbury had its best Christmas ever, with better than expected sales, a growing market share and a record number of customers despite the snow. Like for like sales excluding fuel rose 3.6% in the 14 weeks to 8 January, or 5.4% including petrol, while total sales grew 6% and 7.5% respectively.Fund manager Gartmore Group's ill-starred and brief stint as a publicly listed company is to be brought to an end, with the company's board agreeing to a £335.3m takeover by rival Henderson Group in a deal that values each Gartmore share at 92.1p.Centrica's appeal to have competition restrictions lifted from its Rough gas storage facility in the North Sea has been rejected by the Competition Commission.Quality and safety services provider Intertek has paid $6.9m for American Analytical Chemistry Laboratories (AAC Labs), a business that provides laboratory-based food testing in the United States.