London pre-open: Stocks seen steady as investors mull retail sales

London stocks looked set for a steady open on Friday following solid gains in the previous session, as investors mulled the latest UK retail sales data.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around four points higher.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales volumes rose 0.5% on the month in July following a 0.9% decline in June, coming in just below economists’ expectations for a 0.6% increase.

June’s fall was revised from an initial estimate of a 1.2% decline.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "Retail sales grew in July led by increases in department stores and sports equipment shops, with both the Euros and discounting across many stores boosting sales.

"These increases were offset by a poor month for clothing and furniture shops, and falling fuel sales, despite prices at the pump falling."

In corporate news, UK pharma giant GSK welcomed a ruling by the Florida State Court excluding expert testimony in the long-running Zantac lawsuit where the plaintiffs allege the heartburn drug caused cancer.

GSK said it would now seek dismissal of the upcoming Wilson case in Florida - whereby the plaintiffs “alleged a causal link between ranitidine and prostate cancer”.

AstraZeneca announced ‘Imfinzi’, or durvalumab, has been approved by the US FDA for treating resectable early-stage non-small cell lung cancer in adults without certain genetic mutations.

The approval was based on a phase three trial that demonstrated that an Imfinzi-based regimen before and after surgery significantly reduced the risk of cancer recurrence, progression, or death by 32% compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. It also showed an increase in the pathologic complete response rate with the Imfinzi regimen.