LONDON (ShareCast) - London is tipped to open higher after the late rally on Wall St overnight though a cautious statement from Marks & Spencer and Taylor Wimpey's shock announcement it could not get a cash call underway may weigh early on.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said it had failed to secure a deal with existing and potential investors to raise further equity capital. "In light of current market conditions we have not been able to conclude a satisfactory transaction," it said. The group had been expected to announce an injection of £500m.

Taylor added there will be no interim dividend and said finance director Peter Johnson is standing down. It also does do not anticipate any recovery in the UK housing market in the short term.

Marks & Spencer's UK sales fell sharply in the 13 weeks to end June with the group warning it expects market conditions to continue to remain difficult as consumer confidence levels have deteriorated markedly. Total sales rose by 1.3% in the three months, but UK sales fell by 0.5% and on a like-for-like basis tumbled 5.3%. UK merchandise sales fell 6.2% with food down 4.5%. M&S added that food director Steven Esom is standing down with immediate effect.

Oilfield services group John Wood said in a trading update that "All divisions are performing well, most notably Engineering & Production Facilities, and the board is increasingly confident of delivering another year of strong growth."

Informa, the exhibitions group, has received an approach from a private equity consortium led by Providence Equity, valuing the company at £2.15bn. In a statement after the market closed last night, Informa confirmed that the consortium, which also includes The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman, had made a preliminary 506p per share bid on 26 June.

The Times this morning says that Severn Trent could be forced to return up to £40m to customers as Ofwat prepares to bring further sanctions against the water company. Ofwat is expected to reveal shortly how it intends to deal with the company's misreporting of water leakage levels, for which it was fined £2m at the Old Bailey yesterday.

• News Channel