London pre-open: Stocks seen up ahead of Nvidia earnings

London stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday following a positive close on Wall Street, as investors eyed results from Nvidia.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 22 points higher.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "Today is probably the most important day of the week, and of the earnings season, because it’s Nvidia’s earnings announcement day!

"Nvidia has a weight of around 6% in the S&P 500 and it accounted for a third if its gains of the index this year. So the company’s earnings announcement day is naturally a big day for the market."

In UK corporate news, insurance giant Prudential said it is on track to hit its medium-term profit targets after a solid first half, and announced an acceleration in sales momentum since the period-end.

New business profit totalled $1.47bn in the six months to 30 June, which was 8% higher than last year when excluding the effect of interest rate and other economic impacts.

While this was down from the “exceptional” growth of 47% in the last financial year, the group reiterated its target of achieving a compound annual growth rate for new business profit of 15-20% by 2027.

Frasers Group said it had taken a 14.65% stake in Accent Group, a retail and distribution business in the performance and lifestyle market in Australia and New Zealand.

Accent delivered AUD$1.6bn of sales in fiscal 2024 from nearly 900 stores and websites, consisting of multi-brand sports fashion stores, vertical owned brands, and global exclusively distributed brands such as Skechers, Hoka, UGG and Vans, Frasers said.

No financial details were disclosed.

GSK announced three significant updates, reporting that the Delaware Supreme Court would review a previous decision allowing expert evidence in the Zantac litigation - an important step in the company’s defence against claims that the drug causes cancer.

The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant also said that Japan had approved ‘Nucala’, or mepolizumab, for treating adults with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, marking the drug's third approved indication in the country.

Finally, Bepirovirsen - GSK’s investigational treatment for chronic hepatitis B - had received SENKU designation in Japan, expediting its review based on promising trial results and the need for innovative treatments to achieve a functional cure.