London pre-open: Stocks seen touch weaker on downbeat US and Asian cues
London stocks were expected to open a touch lower on Tuesday following downbeat US and Asian sessions, and amid weaker oil prices.
The FTSE 100 was seen starting six points lower than Monday’s close at 6,130.
On the data front, UK public finances are due at 0930 BST while CBI industrial trends are at 1100 BST. In the US, new home sales are at 1500 BST.
“The UK economy is set to be in focus today, in the wake of yesterday’s hyperbole laden post Brexit outlook for the UK which was delivered by the Treasury and rammed home utterly without nuance by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
“The Chancellor went on to warn against the prospect of a DIY recession in the event of a Brexit, sadly his hyperbole could well have the same effect even if we vote to stay in given the trajectory of some of the most recent economic data.
“We will also be getting the latest borrowing numbers for April which are expected to show a number of £5.8bn, though this is likely to be overshadowed somewhat by the latest Bank of England inflation report hearings where the Bank of England governor Mark Carney, along with Ben Broadbent and new MPC member Gertjan Vlieghe will be taking questions from MP’s about the how the bank views its outlook for the UK economy.”
DIY retailer Kingfisher put together a solid start to the year, with 6.2% like-for-like growth in B&Q and Screwfix stores in the UK and Ireland contributing to 3.6% group growth.
Sales in Poland were also solid and France continued to show evidence of a slow recovery, while progress in chief executive Véronique Laury's ambitious five-year plan saw the new store IT system, a looming supply chain launch and 10 B&Q stores.
Water utility Severn Trent issued what it described as promising annual results on Tuesday, with group turnover down 0.8% year-on-year to £1.79bn as a result of a regulated price decrease.
The FTSE 100 firm’s group underlying profit before interest and tax was down 3.2% in the 12 months to 31 March, to £523m, with group reported PBIT up 0.4% to £524m.
IT infrastucture group Softcat said revenue growth in the quarter to 30 April was slightly ahead of that seen in the first half, with gross profit and operating profit also growing faster than in the first six months.
In addition the company also received a higher than anticipated incremental benefit from previously highlighted and now fully realised procurement savings.
FTSE 250 repair and insurance company HomeServe posted a rise in profit for the year to the end of March as revenue and customer numbers grew.
Adjusted pre-tax profit rose 9% from 2015 to £93m on revenue of £633.2m, up from £584.2m. Meanwhile, the total number of customers increased 11% to 7m.