London pre-open: Stocks seen touch higher; FOMC minutes eyed
London stocks were set for a marginally firmer open on Wednesday, taking their cue from a positive finish on Wall Street.
The FTSE 100 was expected to open six points higher at 7,491.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “It’s taken four days but US markets have managed to recover all of the losses seen in last Wednesday’s sharp decline as investors focussed more on the success of President Trump’s overseas trip and less on his domestic woes. The postponement earlier this week of today’s testimony of ex FBI director Comey is probably a welcome relief, but still points to a problem delayed.
“Investors are once again focussing on the positives, and choosing to ignore the negatives yesterday of some pretty disappointing housing and manufacturing data, which were much weaker than expected.”
There are no major UK data releases due, but in the US, the latest FOMC minutes will be released at 1900 BST.
“These minutes are old and investors are likely to take more clues from the discussions about reducing the size of the balance sheet, particularly since Janet Yellen’s term is up at the end of the year, and will likely have one eye on her legacy," Hewson said.
In corporate news, although sales remained steady, Marks & Spencer reported a 64% plunge in profits for the year to 1 April after taking a £437.4m hit mainly from changes to its pension scheme, international stores, and UK head office.
Keeping the full year dividend at 18.7p, chief executive Steve Rowe outlined causes for optimism as the general merchandise arm' market share started to stabilise and the food business continued to grow like topsy.
Vodafone Group, along with Apax Partners Midmarket and Fortino Capital announced an agreement to combine Melita and Vodafone Malta on Wednesday.
The FTSE 100 telco said the transaction would combine Vodafone Malta, the mobile operator with a 4G mobile network covering 99% of the Maltese population, with Melita, Malta's leading cable, broadband and pay TV provider, which has a network covering 99% of Maltese households.