London pre-open: Stocks seen lower ahead of Fed; French election in focus

London stocks were set for a lower open on Wednesday as investors shifted their attention to the French election and looked ahead to the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.

The FTSE 100 was expected to open down 13 points at 7,237.

UK construction PMI is at 0930 BST. In the US, the FOMC rate announcement is due at 1900 BST.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Today’s construction PMI data for April could well be the weak link in the UK story this week given it has underperformed consistently in the first three months of this year.

"On the other hand manufacturing was also expected to be soft yesterday and rebounded quite strongly in April. Could construction follow suit, we shall see with expectations of 52.1, down slightly from 52.2 in March."

As far as the Fed is concerned, no change is expected to interest rates but investors are likely to scrutinise the accompanying statement for any signs as to whether Fed officials are worried about the disparity between the confidence surveys which still remain strong and the real data which is starting to look soft, Hewson said.

Later on Wednesday, French presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron will go head to head with Marine Le Pen in a televised debate before Sunday's runoff vote.

In corporate news, supermarket chain Sainsbury’s posted its preliminary results for the year to 31 March, with group sales including VAT up 12.7% to £29.11bn, which the board said was mainly as a result of the contribution from its acquisition Argos.

The group said underlying profit before tax was down 1% at £581m, which its board said reflected its investment in the customer offer and cost inflation, offset by cost savings of £130m and a contribution from Argos of £77m

ITV chief executive Adam Crozier has stepped down from his role at the broadcaster after seven years, with no direct replacement appointed yet. Chairman Peter Bazalgette, who was appointed last year, will take on an executive role until a long-term successor for Crozier is appointed, with finance director Ian Griffiths leading the executive team for an interim period as he steps up to a new combined role that also incorporates operations.

Halfords Group has lost another chief executive to a larger retailer, with Jill McDonald poached by Marks & Spencer to be managing director of its non-food business. McDonald will remain in her role at Halfords, which also saw its previous CEO Matt Davies jump ship for Tesco, until October.

Business at Direct Line Group continued to motor ahead during the first quarter of the year, driven by strong demand for its own brand motor insurance, with the company reiterating its guidance for key metrics in fiscal year 2017.

Gross written premiums from ongoing operations were 4.2% during the first three months of the year, with growth at its Motor own brands jumping 11.2%.

As expected by analysts, the group continues to target a 2017 combined operating ratio in the range of 93% to 95%.