London pre-open: FTSE set to rise after Thursday's selloff
London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday following heavy losses in the previous session on the back of worries about the Ukraine crisis, and after US markets ended in the black.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 90 points higher at 7,297, having tumbled 3.9% on Thursday.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The late rebound seen in US markets yesterday is expected to see markets in Europe open modestly higher this morning, however upside is still likely to remain limited while the fighting in Ukraine continues, and uncertainty over future sanctions remains."
In corporate news, aerospace and defence firm Babcock International said that trading across the first ten months of the year had been in line with expectations, with its full-year results still set to be weighted to the fourth quarter.
Babcock, which kept its full-year guidance unchanged, said it had continued to manage costs associated with Covid-19, ongoing inflation and supply chain pressures, with its new operating model on track to deliver savings of approximately £20.0m in the current financial year.
However, the FTSE 250-listed firm warned that free cash flow was expected to be "significantly negative", reflecting material cash outflows - including additional pension contributions, restructuring costs, and investments in facilities and IT upgrades.
British Airways owner IAG said it expected to return to profit in the second quarter despite a "significant" operating loss in the first quarter due to the Omicron Covid variant, seasonal slowdown and capacity rebuilding costs.
The company, which also owns Aer Lingus and Iberia, narrowed 2021 losses to €2.7bn from €7.4bn and said it expected it would hit 85% of pre-pandemic 2019 capacity during the current year.