London pre-open: Stocks seen higher ahead of construction PMI

Stocks in London were set for a slightly firmer open on Tuesday as investors eyed the release of UK construction data.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 12 points higher at 7,294.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Today’s construction PMI numbers are expected to show that the sector remained steady in March at 52.5, unchanged from February.

"The big numbers though are tomorrow’s services numbers but that doesn’t mean that today’s construction numbers are any less important."

The construction purchasing managers' index is due at 0930 BST.

In corporate news, online security specialist Sophos boasted that its full year earnings and cash flow are likely to outshine the consensus forecast after a very strong end to the fourth quarter.

For the year ending 31 March, the FTSE 250 company enjoyed roughly 20% growth in billings at constant currency rates, thanks to a 27% jump in the final three months of the year.

Distribution giant Bunzl has bought two safety businesses in the US and Italy for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisitions will expand the FTSE 100 company’s operations in the safety sector in both North America and Continental Europe.

Central and Eastern-Europe-focussed low cost airline Wizz Air Holdings announced its passenger statistics for March, with capacity rising 13.7% year-on-year to 2.19 million seats.

The company said it flew 1.98 million passengers during the month, an increase of 19.2%, for a load factor of 90.4%, up 4.1 percentage points.

Ryanair reported 10% growth in traffic in March to 9.4m customers, while the load factor was unchanged at 94%.

Rolling annual traffic at the budget airline was up 13% to 120m customers.