London pre-open: Modest start predicted for FTSE

UK stocks are set to slide slightly higher this morning, tracking gains seen in the US overnight and following a number of significant company news releases early on. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open six points higher than yesterday's close of 6,604.89.A larger-than-expected rise in consumer confidence helped US stocks end with decent gains on Tuesday after two straight days of losses.Figures showed that "consumer confidence recovered in March to its best levels since January 2008, raising hopes that the recent downturn in the US economy is starting to turn around", according to Chief Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets. The data also helped push stocks across Asia higher. However, trading was choppy as investors also reacted to mixed economic data on the housing market.The gains were being led by Facebook, after founder Mark Zuckerberg agreed to pay $2.3bn for Oculus VR, a virtual reality headset maker.In this morning's company news, financial services firm Legal & General has won a £3bn bulk annuity arrangement with the ICI Pension Fund, the largest ever bulk annuity policy arranged by a pension scheme in the UK. "Legal & General has identified retirement solutions as one of its five drivers of growth, and the bulk annuity market forms a significant part of this growth," the company said.UK residential property developer Bellway reported a stellar set of half-year results, driven by growth in volume, average selling price and operating margin and underlined its confidence in future trading with a 77.8% hike in its interim dividend. Pre-tax profit surged 73.3% to £103.8m for the half-year ended January 31st 2014 while revenue for the period jumped 39.5% to £701.1m. Earnings per share rose 74.9% to 66.3p.Standard Life has agreed to buy asset management business Ignis Asset Management for £390m. Ignis will be acquired through Standard Life's investment management business and the deal is subject to approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.Tour operator TUI Travel has traded well this winter, but said summer bookings were flat against a strong performance last year.Home emergency and insurance Homeserve confirmed in a trading update that its results remained in line with market expectations. It added that it had completed its customer re-contacting and compensation exercise in relation to questionable sales techniques in the past.NR