London pre-open: Stocks seen higher following heavy losses; Rolls-Royce in focus

London stocks are expected to open higher on Friday, rebounding from the previous day’s heavy losses.

London’s FTSE 100 is seen kicking off the day 30 points higher than Thursday’s close at 5,567.

Equity markets on Wall Street ended down but well off lows on Thursday, helped along by a recovery in oil prices.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 fell 4.8% while the Hang Seng slipped 0.9% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.7%.

On the data front, UK construction output figures are due at 0930 GMT. In the US, the import price index and retail sales are at 1330 GMT, while University of Michigan consumer confidence and business inventories are at 1500 GMT.

Rolls-Royce cuts dividend by 50%

Rolls-Royce cut its final dividend by 50% to 7.1p and said it would be halved again at the next interim stage, though full year underlying profits did not fall as far as some feared.

Following a string of five profit warnings in the last two years, the engine maker delivered results largely in line with guidance from last summer, with revenue down 1% to £13.4bn and underlying pre-tax profit falling 12% to £1.43bn at constant exchange rates.

Furthermore, the FTSE 100 company kept its trading outlook for 2016 unchanged and said it had identified half of the cost savings it needed to make in order to end the run of profit warnings.

Hammerson has entered into a joint venture with Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board over the ownership of the newly acquired Grand Central shopping centre.

The FTSE 100 property development and investment company announced the 50:50 joint venture on Friday, also announcing the acquisition of the Birmingham property had been completed

It acquired the shopping centre for £335m, but once the joint venture agreement is completed the company’s total acquisition costs will be £175m.

JD Sports Fashion's global expansion was boosted on Friday, with the appointment of Andy Rubin to the group's board as a non-executive director.

The FTSE 250 fashion retailer said Rubin was currently chairman of Pentland Brands, and director of Pentland Group and the European Vice-President of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry.

It said he brought experience of brand development outside of Europe, which would be of use in supporting the global expansion of JD Sports.