London pre-open: Stocks seen higher after late Wall St recovery

London stocks were set for a firm open on Friday, taking their cue from Wall Street, where equities erased early losses to end in the green.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 68 points higher at 6,653.

Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at Oanda, said: "Despite the late afternoon recovery in US equities, gold holds near its highest level in six months as investors are weighing the plenitude of risks heading into the new year. Indeed, there’s an extensive laundry list of concerns Trump berating the Fed, Trade Wars, China slowing growth, Brexit casualties, EU slowdown.

"But when you factor in a possible downswing the US economy in 2019, this is when things get ugly and why gold remains so alluring."

On the UK data front, BBA mortgage approvals are at 0930 GMT.

Meanwhile, corporate news was thin on the ground.

Bank of Georgia said it had raised $35m in two separate deals to finance local businesses.

The group said it had co-operated with the Green for Growth Fund to raise $25m to finance micro and small enterprises, large businesses and public entities.

A second deal with the European Fund for Southeast Europe to raise $10m with a maturity of five years will support the working capital financing and investment needs of micro and small enterprises.

Irish building materials seller CRH said it had completed the third phase of its €1bn share buyback programme, returning a further €100m to shareholders, taking the total since April to €800m, and was starting the final stage in January.

The final phase run from January 2 until March 29 if necessary, CRH said.