London pre-open: Futures flat after closure of major Chinese port

Stocks are set for a relatively flat start to the last trading session of the week, despite fresh record highs for the US Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 the day before.

Dampening investor sentiment, overnight Chinese authorities shut down the Meishan terminal at the Ningbo-Zhoushan container port, after a worker tested positive for Covid-19.

The move at the world's third-largest container port mirrors a similar decision in May at the Yantian port in Shenzhen that led to shipping delays around the globe.

Against that backdrop, as of 0735 BST, futures on the FTSE 100 are trading higher by 9.50 points to 7,168.50.

Foremost on the economic calendar for Friday is a preliminary reading on the University of Michigan's US consumer confidence index for July.

Consensus is for an unchanged reading of 81.2.

Also due out in the States are import price figures covering the month of July.

Across the Channel meanwhile, final readings are scheduled for release on French and Spanish consumer prices in July, alongside a report on euro area foreign trade in June.

No major economic releases will be published in the UK.

Babcock bolsters balance sheet through disposal

Defence and aerospace engineer Babcock said it has sold its Frazer-Nash Consultancy to US peer KBR for £293m as part of its disposal programme to bolster its balance sheet. Frazer-Nash provides engineering and technology solutions across a broad range of national infrastructure, to operators and regulators from a network of nine UK and four Australian locations. The consultancy, which Babcock acquired in 2007, employs around 900 people.

Vectura's board of directors recommended a £1.1bn takeover by Philip Morris International after the close of trading on Thursday. The proposed acquisition values it at 165p a share, a 10p-a-share premium to a rival 155p-a-share offer from Carlyle, the US private equity firm.

Avon Protection cut its revenue guidance for 2021 and 2022 because of delayed orders and supply chain disruption. The company said it expected 2021 revenue to be in the range of $245m-$260m and reduced its guidance for 2022 revenue to $320m-$340m. Cash conversion in 2021 is likely to be about 50% because of inventory build-ups and delayed receipts from customers.