London pre-open: Warm start for Footsie

UK shares are set to begin the week in better shape than the weather.The FTSE 100 is expected to add almost 30 points in early trade, with Ireland's bail-out and tensions on the Korean peninsula still likely to dominate headlines.BP has sold its stake in Argentina-based oil and gas company Pan American Energy (PAE) to Bridas Corporation for $7.06bn (£4.52bn) in cash. BP's 60% will give Bridas, which already owns 40% of the business, full control when the deal completes in 2011. It also puts BP firmly on course to hit its $30bn target of asset sales, announced in July, by the end of next year. Today's deal pushes the total so far to $21bn.Oil and gas explorer Salamander has made a 'highly encouraging' gas discovery at its Angklung-1 exploration well in the Bontang PSC, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Salmander, which is the operator with a 100% interest, says Angklung-1 well flowed gas at a commercial rate and also found a new Upper Miocene oil play, highlighting the potential value in the North Kutei basin. Qantas on Sunday began flying its Airbus 380s for the first time since a mid-air explosion of a Rolls-Royce engine forced one of the Australian airline's jets to make an emergency landing earlier in November. The flight from Syndey via Singapore landed at Heathrow on Sunday morning. Alan Joyce, Qantas chief executive, joined the 453 passengers on board for the first leg of the flight, the Telegraph reports.