London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as attention shifts to Fed

London stocks were expected open lower on Wednesday amid rising expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in June.

The FTSE 100 was seen opening down 28 points from Tuesday’s close at 6,140.

Following on from a batch of upbeat US data and hawkish comments from a number of Fed officials, investors were growing concerned that the US central bank might lift rates as early as next month.

On the data front, the UK unemployment rate, claimant count and average earnings are due at 0930 BST.

In the US, the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes are at 1900 BST.

“Given that we saw the Fed remove its reference to global financial developments as an ongoing risk at the last meeting, the latest minutes released later today could well give an important insight into the Fed’s deliberations when it met a few weeks ago, though events have moved on a touch since then given recent weak Chinese data,” said CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson.

“Since that meeting, at the end of April, recent Chinese economic data has turned lower, after a decent pick up in March, while we’ve heard all manner of doomsday scenarios played out in the media with respect to the consequences of a vote to leave the EU in the forthcoming ‘Brexit’ vote, which takes place eight days after the Fed meeting.”

London Stock Exchange provided an update on its merger with Deutsche Börse, informing that shareholder documents will be published in June and shareholder meetings required in connection with the merger will take place in July.

The LSE added that the end of the acceptance period for the securities exchange offer to Deutsche Börse shareholders will be in July.

Megabrewer SABMiller reported a 10% drop in revenue for the year in its preliminary results on Wednesday to $19.8bn, though the company did claim 7% organic revenue growth at constant currencies.

The FTSE 100 firm, currently the subject of an acquisition and combination with AB InBev, posted group net producer revenue of $24.1bn, an 8% drop, or a 5% organic rise at constant currencies.

SABMiller’s total beverage volumes grew 2% during the year, with lager volumes up 1% and soft drinks volumes up 6%.

Reported EBITA dropped 9% to $5.8bn and grew 8% organically and at constant currencies, with adjusted earnings per share down 6% on a reported basis and up 12% on an organic basis to 224.1 cents.

The company declared a final dividend of 93.75 cents, taking the full year dividend per share to 122 cents, up 8% on the prior year.

Full year profits from Burberry fell 10%, at the bottom of analysts' range of estimates, as the fashion retailer announced £100m of cost savings to help it cope with the "challenging" environment.

Chief creative and chief executive officer Christopher Bailey said: "We continue to see significant opportunities ahead of us and have put ambitious plans in place to increase future revenue, enhance productivity and create a more efficient organisation."