London pre-open: Stocks to edge down in quiet trade

London stocks were set to edge down on Thursday following solid gains in the previous session, with volumes likely to be thin as many traders remain away from their desks until the new year.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around eight points lower.

Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley said: "Omicron fears continued to fade overnight, in North America at least, propelling the S&P 500 and Dow Jones to record closes, lifting oil prices, and weighing on the US Dollar. Even gold managed to recoup most of its intra-day losses as optimistic long positions were once again culled.

"The upbeat mood was helped along by better than expected US retail sales and larger than expected drops in US crude oil and gasoline inventories, suggesting that despite the current virus wave, the US domestic economy continues to power forward. A dearth of heavy-duty data releases globally this week continues to leave markets driven by sentiment and by sentiment, I mean omicron headlines."

On the macro front, investors will be eyeing the release of US initial jobless claims at 1330 GMT.

In corporate news, Harbour Energy said it had completed the drilling of the Dunnottar exploration well in licence P2399 in the UK North Sea.

The well reached a total measured depth of 15,639 feet and found hydrocarbon-bearing intervals in the Palaeocene, Jurassic and Triassic. The commerciality of these marginal accumulations will be assessed. In the meantime, the well will be plugged and abandoned, Harbour said.