London pre-open: Stocks seen little changed as investors mull Brexit implications

London stocks were set for a broadly flat open on Thursday as investors assessed the implications of Prime Minister Theresa May’s triggering of Article 50 a day before, kicking off divorce proceedings with the European Union.

The FTSE 100 was expected to open six points lower at 7,367.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “Anyone expecting fireworks in the wake of the triggering of Article 50 yesterday would have been rather disappointed by events as the pound, after an early slide, managed to hold up rather well, as the day wore on.

“For now the UK will have to wait for a much more detailed EU response with an outline likely by the end of the week and a detailed response at an EU summit at the end of April. This means the pound is likely to stay quite choppy, while businesses look to lobby politicians to try and get the best deal possible.”

There are no major UK data releases due.

In corporate news, tobacco company Imperial Brands said it remained on target to hit first-half targets, with both revenues and earnings set to be up strongly at the reported level thanks to the weak pound.

As it previously guided, a £300m investment being made in 2017 into its brands will be biased to the first half, resulting in lower revenue and profit on a constant currency basis, with a stronger second half performance.

Diploma said it expected group first half revenues to be around 20% ahead of the comparable period, boosted by the impact of the “substantial depreciation” in UK sterling.

The group said it continued to trade in line with expectations. At constant exchange rates, revenues are expected to increase by around 6% with acquisitions completed during the last 12 months contributing around 1% net.

Medical technology company ConvaTec has expanded its insulin pump manufacturing partnership with Medtronic to meet growing demand.

The FTSE 100 company’s subsidiary, Unomedical, has strengthened its capabilities to produce a range of infusion sets and insulin pump therapy solutions offered by Medtronic’s Diabetes Group.

Betting and gaming company William Hill announced that Ruth Prior will be appointed chief financial officer, effective later in the year.

The FTSE 250 group said Ruth was currently chief operating officer - and was previously deputy CFO - of Worldpay, a global leader in payments processing technology and solutions.