London pre-open: Slovak vote to give a small lift

The ratification at the second attempt by the Slovak parliament of the expansion of the European bail-out fund has given sentiment a small boost, and London's top shares look set to start the day on the front foot. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 30 points up from yesterday's close of 5,403. Information technology infrastructure provider Computacenter said trading patterns seen in the first half of the year continued into the second, leaving it on track to meet full year expectations. Third quarter revenue grew 5% to £652m, boosted by acquisitions, but was down 1% with acquisitions stripped out. Speciality plastic and fibre products supplier Filtrona was another company trading in line with the board's expectations. Third quarter revenue rose 10% from the corresponding period of last year, with like-for-like sales growth of 7%. Engineering software provider AVEVA was pleased with its progress in the first half of its financial year, though performance was patchy. Latin America, South Korea and Central and Eastern Europe were the stand-out regions, with Oil and Gas continuing to be the main driver of growth. In North America, demand for its Engineering and Design tools remained weak, while in China, as anticipated, the reorganisation announced earlier this year has had a short term impact on revenue in that region.