London pre-open: Stocks to fall on downbeat Asian cues

London stocks were set to fall at the open on Friday, taking their cue from a downbeat session in Asia.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 80 points lower at 6,446.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "As we look ahead to today’s trading session and the end of the week as well as the month, European markets look set to open lower as we look back and reflect on what has been a very choppy start to the first month of trading in 2021, as the initial euphoria at the start of January has given way to concerns about extended lockdowns and tighter restrictions for longer across Europe.

"An added concern is the prospect of a slower vaccine rollout, as well as disruption to vaccine supplies, as the EU weights the prospect of export controls on vaccine supplies, thus raising the political temperature amongst those who have managed to coordinate their vaccine rollout program better. In a separate development European Council President Charles Michel even raised the prospect of seizing control of vaccine production in an attempt to get its own botched vaccine program back on track, after the likes of parts of Spain, France and Germany ran out of vaccine supplies."

Reddit frenzy was also set to remain in focus after trading apps such as Robinhood barred small investors on Thursday from trading in stocks such as US video game retailer GameStop.

Rabobank said: "The retail horde are not going anywhere, and may have no day jobs to go back. They have been defeated here, but can pile into any stock or asset they choose, forcing brokers or regulators to shut down trading, making life hard for The Street, and a mockery of the system."

In corporate news, specialist lender Paragon Bank reported a fall in first quarter lending volumes as Covid-19 lockdowns stalled house sales, but said it expected a pickup as buyers rushed to complete purchases ahead of the end of the stamp duty holiday in March.

The bank said buy-to-let volume fell £110.8m to £298.7m year on year, largely reflecting lagged impacts of the first lockdown and “market wide challenges facing the execution of housing transactions”.

Evraz's steel production rose 7.4% in the fourth quarter as its Russian plant increased activity after repairs and volumes improved in North America.

Total steel production rose to 3.467m tonnes in the three months to the end of December from 3.227m tonnes in the third quarter. Sales of steel products rose 12% to 3.41m tonnes from the quarter before as sales of semi-finished products jumped 30.4%.