London pre-open: Stocks seen steady as earnings roll in
London stocks were set for a steady open on Thursday as investors braced for a blizzard of earnings releases and digested the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.
The FTSE 100 was expected to open unchanged at 7,452.
On the data front, the CBI distributive trades survey is at 1100 BST.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "As expected last night's Fed meeting came and went without much fanfare, and without any surprises. The only changes of note were in relation to the wording with respect to the timing of when officials would look to begin the task of paring back the balance sheet. Instead of making reference to sometime this year the wording was altered to “relatively soon” though this had the important caveat of as long as the economy evolves as expected.
"This would appear to suggest that the Fed might be looking at September to announce a possible start date, though given the dysfunctional state of US politics this date could slip given recent comments from President Trump that a debt ceiling spat and a government shutdown might be on the cards, at around that time."
In corporate news, Lloyds Banking Group reported underlying first-half profits ahead of consensus forecasts, in the first set of results since returning to full private ownership.
Total income in the first six months of the year of £9.3bn was up 4% year on year, with underlying profit of £4.5bn, up 8% and ahead of an the £4.4bn expected by analysts.
Mining conglomerate Glencore said first half own-sourced copper production fell 9% to 642,900 tonnes.
Own-sourced zinc production of 570,800 tonnes was up 13%, reflecting an increase of grades and production at the Antamina mine in Peru and “generally solid performances across the portfolio”.
AstraZeneca performed in line with expectations in the first half of 2017, it reported on Thursday, with total revenue falling 11%, or 9% at constant currencies, to $10.46bn.
The drugmaker reported an 11% fall in product sales to $9.78bn - or 10% at constant currencies - while reported operating profit surged 37% to $1.84bn.
At the same time, AstraZeneca also confirmed a new partnership with Merck & Co to co-develop and co-commercialise AstraZeneca’s ‘Lynparza’ treatment for multiple cancer types.
St.James's Place reported at 27% jump in funds under management to reach £83.0bn (Numis: £82.8bn) for the six months ending on 30 June. That drove a 40% pick-up in its operating profits on a European embedded value basis to £397.3m.
Underlying profits before tax on an IFRS basis were 44% higher to £139.0m. The asset manager lifted its interim payout by 25% to 15.41p (Numis: 16.5p), telling shareholders it remained confident in its ability to deliver sustained growth.