London pre-open: Stocks seen muted after uninspiring Wall St session

London stocks were set for a muted open on Tuesday following an uninspiring session on Wall Street.

The FTSE 100 was called to open five points lower at 7,127

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European stocks had a lacklustre start to the week yesterday with weakness in commodity prices being offset by strength in the likes of defensives, with utilities and healthcare outperforming, which in turn helped the FTSE 100 to finish the day modestly in the green.

"There was also little in the way of direction for US markets, which also traded quietly below last week's record highs, with the Nasdaq regaining some of Friday’s lost ground.

"Asia markets have had a similarly quiet session as rising virus concerns temper enthusiasm here and this looks set to bleed into today’s European open.

"On the UK data front, the latest BRC retail sales data for July showed that consumer spending slowed a touch despite the full lifting of restrictions, with online spending falling back, although it still remained resilient. Spending on the likes of theatre, cinema and sporting events rose, as did spending on in store sales as shoppers returned to the high street. Like for like sales in July rose 4.7%, down from June’s 6.7%."

In corporate news, Flutter's first-half earnings rose 75% as the gambling group benefited from the acquisition of Stars in the US.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased to £597m from £342m in the six months to the end of June from a year earlier as revenue doubled to £3.05bn from £1.54bn.

Excluding the US, adjusted earnings doubled to £684m from £339m.

Elsewhere, InterContinental Hotels said it swung to a profit in the first half as trading recovered from the pandemic hit.

In the six months to 30 June, the Holiday Inn owner swung to an operating profit of $138m from a loss of $233m in the same period a year ago, with a "significant" improvement in demand over the course of the half, resulting in revenue per available room rising 20% versus 2020.