London pre-open: Stocks seen lower following uninspiring US and Asian cues

London stocks were set to start lower on Thursday following a downbeat session in the US and mixed trading in Asia.

The FTSE 100 was set to open 13 points lower than Wednesday’s close at 6,822.

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “It’s quite likely that trading could well be quite light given this week’s almost laser like focus on tomorrow’s event in Jackson Hole, and Fed chief Janet Yellen’s speech, which is likely to turn out to be one great big anti-climax.

“The performance of the pound in the past few days has been a testament to the recent improvement in UK data with the currency posting its first consecutive run of three day gains since early July. As we look ahead to tomorrow’s Jackson Hole symposium attention will inevitably turn to the state of the US economy again this afternoon and in particular the US consumer.”

On the macroeconomic front, there are no major UK data releases due but in the US, durable goods orders and initial jobless claims are at 1330 BST. Markit’s US services PMI is at 1445 BST.

In corporate news, building materials group CRH winched its half-year dividend a touch higher after making more progress with its deleveraging and reporting the early stages of an economic recovery in Europe.

Having been flat in the first quarter, European sale rose 3% in the six months to 30 June, which coupled with a slight slowing in the Americas and Asia, saw interim group revenue grow 35% to €12.7bn and feed through to reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) more than double to €1.12bn.

Events and publishing group Ascential has acquired US-based OneClickRetail.com for an intial $44m in cash plus earn-out payments based on future profits that could take the total to $225m.

The addition of One Click, which was founded in 2013 by former Amazon and Walmart executive Spencer Millerberg, is expected to be enhancing to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year of ownership, with the purchase funded by existing cash resources.

Gambling software developer Playtech reported a drop in first-half profit as it took a hit from fluctuations in sterling, but revenue grew and the company declared a special dividend.

Chairman Alan Jackson said: “Playtech has made significant progress in 2016 as we have delivered on our strategic objectives.

"The gaming division continues to deliver strong growth, driven by our industry-leading Casino offering. We have 'locked-in' future growth with important new licensees signed and significant contracts renewed.”