London pre-open: Small loss forecast

Last night's dip in the US looks like trimming a handful of points off London's leading index first thing Thursday.The FTSE 100 is reckoned to be about 5 points lower in early deals, according to futures prices.BP will be in the spotlight. The company and its partners were handed writs by the US Justice Department over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster that killed eleven oil rig workers and caused the worst environmental disaster in US history. BG Group has hit a purple patch, announcing its second discovery in as many days, this time in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, where the eleventh well on the BM-S-11 concession struck oil. The well, in the western Tupi area 275 kilometres off the coast of Rio de Janeiro State and 11 kilometres northwest of the original Tupi discovery well, drilled down over 2,000 metres. Oil samples confirmed the presence of a light oil accumulation and the well encountered a 90-metre reservoir section on the western flank of Tupi helping further delineate the size and quality of the field, BG said Thursday.Sports Direct posted a sharp rise in profits in the half year to 24 October as the football World Cup and strong growth in internet shopping boosted sales, but the sports shop chain is anticipating a tough start to the new year. Underlying pre-tax profits were up to £100.7m, from £71.9m the previous year on revenues that climbed to £819.9m from £756.9m. "The group has continued to perform strongly during the first eight months of this financial year," said boss Dave Forsey.Britain's richest charity and one of its most successful investors gave warning yesterday that the country is facing its biggest inflationary threat for 20 years and disclosed that it had abandoned bond investment as a consequence. Wellcome Trust, which has amassed a £14.5bn investment fortune, said that it had sold its last bond in April as it positioned itself for a rise in inflation, says the Times.