London open: Chinese data weigh at the start of trading

London stocks started the session slightly lower on the heels of weaker-than-expected data out of China, albeit amid firmer oil prices.

As of 0924 BST, the FTSE 100 was off by 3.47 points to 6,911.24.

Front month Brent crude oil futures were up by 0.282% to $46.17 per barrel on the ICE a day after Saudi Arabia signalled talks on output curbs would be on the table when OPEC members meet in Algeria in September.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite all set fresh record highs on the same day, the first time that had occurred since 1999.

On the data front, UK construction output is scheduled for release at 0930 BST. In the US, eyes will be on retail sales at 1330 BST and University of Michigan consumer sentiment and business inventories at 1500 BST.

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “With the pound continuing to come under pressure today’s construction output numbers for June aren’t likely to rip up any trees or assuage concerns about a slowdown in the construction sector at the end of Q2. Having seen a decline of 2.1% in May, the June numbers aren’t expected to be that much better with a decline of 1.9% expected.”

Data out earlier on Chinese industrial output and retail sales for July came in below expectations, although Asian markets seemed to shrug off the figures.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange's composite index gained 1.51% to 3,048.118.

More ominously, the rate of growth in fixed asset investment year-to-date slowed to a 8.0% year-on-year clip versus expectations of 8.9%.

That might be indicative of investment slowing in July by the most in over 20 years, Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics said in a research note.

"A further sharp slowdown in investment growth means that unless the government steps up policy support, it is only a matter of time before the economy begins to slow again," Evans-Pritchard said.

Industrial production in China slowed to a 6.0% year-on-year pace in July, compared to expectations of 6.2% and down from 6.2% in the month before.

Light corporate calendar

In corporate news, pub and restaurant chain operator The Restaurant Group announced on Friday that after 15 years with the company, and two years as CEO, Danny Breithaupt will step down from the board and leave the company with immediate effect.

The FTSE 250 firm’s board said it has completed the initial phase of its operating strategy review, and has decided that a new leader is needed to implement the initial actions and then prioritise the next phase of the review. It also announced the appointment of Andy McCue as CEO, who will start with the company and join the board on 19 September.

McCue was most recently CEO at Paddy Power, where he embedded a new growth strategy which delivered record revenues and profits, as well as playing a central role in the merger with Betfair.

Movie theatre operator Cineworld Group confirmed on Friday that it has completed the acquisition of five cinemas from Cinema Holdings Limited, the holding company of Empire Cinema.

The FTSE 250 company had initially flagged the acquisition on 28 July, with the deal being worth a total of £94m.

Cineworld said the acquisitions included the Empire Leicester Square in London’s West End, an 18-screen multiplex in Basildon, a 17 screen multiplex in Hemel Hempstead, a 16 screen multiplex in Poole, and a smaller four screen cinema in the London borough of Bromley.

The four larger cinemas feature IMAX screens, Cineworld reported.

Genus suffered a legal setback Stateside as a US judge handed down a series of verdicts against the animal genetics specialist.

The US District Court for Wisconsin ruled that two of Genus rival ST´s patents were valid and had been infringed and that ABS, a unit of Genus, had materially broken its confidentiality obligations as set out in the 2012 semen sorting agreement between the two parties.