LSE opening different to Wall Street Opening

I've noticed on Monday and Tuesday, due to the swine flu scare, that the london stock exchange opened with a sharp dip in share prices, which pulled back before descending again. I expected to see the same thing on Wall street, but on each occasion, although Wall Street started from a low position before the opening bell, it actually climbed from the open. Can anybody explain the reason for this?

When reuters say that US futures point to a sharp decline in stocks at the open, does this mean that the share prices are already lower before the opening bell, because they don't seem to fall after it?

Rob.

It normally indicates so. It means the futures for the indices trade a lot lower than their "fair value" to the current index, so it is an indication the stocks will open lower.