London pre-open: Stocks seen up after positive US session; BoJ stands pat

London stocks were set to rise at the open on Tuesday following a mostly positive US session, and after the Bank of Japan stood pat on interest rates.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 10 points higher at 7,624.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Having teased the markets about their intentions over rates as well as yield curve control over the past few weeks and months the Bank of Japan kept interest rate and monetary policy unchanged this morning.

"The central bank didn’t offer any further guidance as to their future intentions with today’s press conference by Governor Ueda set to be keenly scrutinised for the central bank’s future policy intentions.

"Against this backdrop and another strong finish for US markets, European stocks look set to open modestly higher."

Corporate news was scarce as we head towards the Christmas break, but music rights investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund said it has delayed publication of its interim results - which were due on Tuesday - after the board expressed concerns about the value of the company's assets.

Hipgnosis said an independent valuation was "materially higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector".

It highlighted the proposed sale of assets to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for $417.5m, reflecting a discount of 24.3% to the valuation at the end of March, and the recent sale of non-core assets of $23.1m at a 14.2% discount.

The board sought advice on the independent valuation from its investment advisor Hipgnosis Song Management, which is majority owned by Blackstone.

"Hipgnosis Song Management Limited eventually provided an opinion, which was heavily caveated, such that the board has concerns as to the valuation of the company's assets in its interim results," Hipgnosis Songs Fund said.

The company expects to publish the interim results by 31 December 2023."