London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as focus shifts to Carney

London stocks were expected to open a little lower on Tuesday following strong gains in the previous session as investors awaited a speech by Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

The FTSE 100 was set to open 12 points lower than Monday’s close at 6,670.

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “The unexpected removal of an additional two months of uncertainty as Andrea Leadsom suddenly dropped out of the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron and elevated Theresa May to the top position in UK politics, helped push the FTSE100 to new 11-month highs yesterday and the FTSE250 back to levels last seen the day after the referendum vote.”

He added that “the multiple boost of a decent payrolls number, and the promise of additional stimulus measures out of Japan contrived to turbo charge equity markets in the last few days”.

Carney will appear in front of MPs at 1000 BST with other members of the Financial Stability Committee to answer questions about the BoE’s recent measures to ensure markets were orderly following the vote to leave the European Union.

In corporate news, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Shire's lifitegrast eye drops for treating signs and symptoms of dry eye disease.

Lifitegrast, to be sold under the Xiidra name, is expected to launch in the third quarter.

“An estimated 16m adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with dry eye disease. An often chronic ocular disease, dry eye is associated with inflammation that may eventually lead to damage to the surface of the eye. An eye care professional can diagnose dry eye disease based on signs and symptoms and determine management options, which could include the use of a prescription treatment,” Shire said.

Builders merchant and DIY retailer Grafton Group said like-for-like revenue growth was negative in June as the current uncertainty about Brexit weighed on the building trade. Group revenue for the six months to 30 June increased by 13.3% to £1.23bn and by 11.7% in constant currency.

Housebuilder and construction group Galliford Try said it expects to report record full year results, with profit before tax in line with management's expectations.

Despite the political and economic uncertainty, the FTSE 250 company said it was "too early" to predict specific effects on our markets, but took confidence from the strength of underlying demand for new homes and the continuing availability of mortgage finance and the government's Help-to-Buy scheme for both sides of the business.