London pre-open: Stocks seen higher after Chinese data

Strong economic data from China is expected to give European markets a small boost when they open on Friday morning, as investors temporarily shrug off ongoing concerns about the 'fiscal cliff' Stateside.City sources predict that the Footsie will open a couple of points higher than yesterday's close of 5,930.The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose from 50.5 to 50.9 in December, slightly above the 50.8 forecast. This was its highest level since October 2011."It is also the fifth consecutive month that the figure has improved which suggests, along with other data, that the economy bottomed out back in the third quarter," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari."As always with Chinese manufacturing data, this is good news globally as well as domestically. A strong China will be key to driving the global recovery. It also suggests that external demand is improving which is consistent with data we've seen out of the US and the eurozone in recent months," he said.Company newsSecurity firm G4S has announced that it is to acquire the South African retail cash solutions technology provider Deposita. The UK-listed company will take an 87% stake in Deposita for a total consideration of 114m rand (£8.2m) post debt restructuring."The acquisition of Deposita will significantly strengthen G4S's position in the South African retail cash technology marketplace, which is forecast to grow rapidly over the next three years," the company said.bwin.party digital entertainment, the FTSE 250-listed online gambling group, said that Belgian authorities have dropped all legal disputes with the company after it entered into a collaboration agreement with French casino operator Partouche.Partouche's Belcasinos division is one of four land-based casino operators that are edible to apply for the requisite licence to operate online poker and casino in Belgium. Under the terms of the agreement, bwin.party is to offer sports betting, poker and casino games in Belgium. Trinity Capital, the AIM-listed fund created for investing in Indian real estate and infrastructure, saw net assets slip slightly in the first half, from £58.2m to £56.1m at March 31st 2012. The company said that investor sentiment in the Indian property and equity markets "continued to be weak during the first six months".