London pre-open: Stocks seen flat after uninspiring US and Asian sessions

London stocks are expected to open broadly flat on Friday following fairly uninspiring sessions in the US and Asia.

The FTSE 100 is called to open just two points higher than Thursday’s close at 6,332 as investors continue to keep a close eye on central banks.

On the macroeconomic front, UK public finances figures for October are due at 0930 GMT.

“UK public sector net borrowing figures will be released this morning and are expected to show borrowing fell to only £5.5bn last month,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

“Unfortunately this dip is quite common for October but it does leave us on course to reduce borrowing again this year as the government continues to try and eliminate the deficit by the end of this parliament.”

Spectris sees 2015 profit at lower end of market expectations

Spectris, the productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls company, said group like-for-like sales fell by 1% in the four months to the end of October, with trading conditions worsening as the period progressed.

Chief executive John O'Higgins said: "The period has been characterised by challenging trading conditions, particularly in our largest geographic region, North America. The board currently anticipates that full year adjusted operating profit will be towards the lower end of the range of market expectations.”

John Lewis’s weekly sales have reached £100m for the first time this Christmas shopping season.

The retailer revealed its sales figures for the week ending 14 November as festive sales ramp up.

It said sales for the week were up 1.5% on last year and 15.8% on the previous week, and it showed signs it would be an “omnichannel Christmas”.

“Two thirds of our customers now visit both a shop and johnlewis.com to make a purchase,” the company revealed.