London pre-open: Stocks to rise; US-China trade tensions remain in focus

London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday, taking their cue from a positive Asian session despite ongoing worries about between trade relations between the US and China.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 14 points higher at 6,832.

Sino-US relations were likely to remain in focus after US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned that the US and China were "miles and miles" away from ending their trade dispute. He also said that there was a fair chance that China will get a trade deal. Meanwhile, Trump's economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the US president is optimistic on trade talks.

In currency markets, sterling was up 0.3% against the dollar at 1.3100 and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1571, having rallied sharply overnight following a report that the DUP has privately given support to Theresa May's Brexit 'Plan B' agreement provided it contains a timeframe for the Irish backstop.

"The Prime Minister will need to win over members of her own party, and the EU, if she wants her solution to get approval," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

On the data front, BBA mortgage approvals are at 0930 GMT and the CBI distributive trades survey is at 1100 GMT.

In corporate news, Vodafone managed to keep underlying growth positive in the third quarter as it stemmed some of the customer losses in Italy and Spain.

Organic service revenues of €9.8bn in the three months to 31 December were up 0.1% compared to the same period a year earlier, beating analyst expectations for a decline of 0.7%.

Pharmaceutical company Indivior said the New Jersey District Court had granted it a temporary restraining order (TRO) that prevents Alvogen Pine Brook from launching its generic buprenorphine and naloxone sublingual film product.

The TRO will remain in place until February 7 when a preliminary injunction hearing will take place, the company said.

Drinks manufacturer A.G. Barr updated the market on its trading for the financial year ending 26 January, reporting continued positive performance across the period, with revenue expected to be £277m - up 5% year-on-year.

The company described “strong” trading execution across its core brands, and the continued success of its “key innovation”, as leading to further market share volume gains in a UK soft drinks market which saw volume up 3.0%, while value increased by 8.0%.