London pre-open: Stocks set to rebound from Fed-fuelled losses

London stocks were expected to open in the black on Friday, bouncing back from the Fed-fuelled losses of the previous session.

The FTSE 100 was seen starting 57 points higher than Thursday’s close at 6,110.

“While US markets did finish the day lower yesterday they did at least manage to close well above the lowest levels of the day, meaning that we should be able to see a positive European open this morning, in a week which could well end up being another disappointing one for equity markets,” said CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson.

“With the latest G7 finance ministers meeting due to start today in Japan, it is quite likely that the subject of currency levels and fiscal policy is likely to be high on the agenda, and while markets have settled down a bit since the G20 meeting in Shanghai at the end of March it remains clear that financial markets are still on edge, due to the lack of progress amongst policymakers with respect to fiscal reform.”

There are no major UK data due but in the US, existing home sales are at 1500 BST.

Close Brothers confident over full year

Financial services group Close Brothers said it delivered an improved third quarter performance, with good loan book growth, tighter cost control and better market conditions for its market making unit Winterflood. It added that it was confident of “delivering a satisfactory outcome for the full year”.

The banking division's loan book increased 4.0% in the quarter and was up 8.2% in the year to date to £6.2bn benefiting from strong growth in leasing products and a seasonal uplift in motor finance.

“The return on net loan book remains strong, as both the net interest margin and bad debt ratio have remained broadly in line with the first half. The rate of growth in expenses was lower than the first half as we continue to tighten cost control whilst maintaining investment in the business and in new growth initiatives,” Close said.

Provisional findings from the Competition and Markets Authority into the proposed merger between bookmakers Ladbrokes and Gala Coral have identified potential competition concerns in hundreds of local areas.

The authority said that in order to resolve the concerns, 350 to 400 shops may need to be sold for the merger to be conditionally cleared - if the provisional findings were confirmed in the final report.

Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Group - the second and third largest bookmakers in the UK by number of outlets - have 2,231 and 1,850 betting shops in the UK respectively.