London pre-open: Stocks seen a little lower; BoJ stands pat
Stocks in London were set to open a little lower on Tuesday in quiet trade as investors digest news that the Bank of Japan has stood pat on monetary policy.
The FTSE 100 was called to open down 10 points from Monday’s close at 7,007.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said: “Terror attacks across the European continent continue shaking the headlines. Yet the market reaction has been so far limited following Berlin, Zurich and Ankara attacks.
“As expected, the Bank of Japan maintained its monetary policy unchanged. The BoJ remained committed to its yield curve control, while upgrading the economic outlook.”
On Monday, a truck ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing twelve people and injuring 48 in what is suspected to have been a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, in Turkey, the Russian ambassador was shot dead by an off-duty policeman who appeared to be protesting Russia’s involvement in Aleppo.
In Zurich, three people were injured in a gun attack at a mosque.
In corporate news, Lloyd's Bank said it was buying credit card business MBNA from Bank of America for £1.9bn.
The price includes £0.8bn of acquired equity and assumes £240m for future PPI claims, with the group's exposure to PPI liability capped at this amount.
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline announced that it achieved positive results from a phase three HIV study, which assessed the efficiency of a two-drug regimen.
ViiVHealthcare, which is majority owned by the company with stakes owned by Pfizer and Shionogi, said the first phase three study showed the efficacy of a two-drug regimen, as opposed three or four drugs, as maintenance therapy for HIV.
Property, residential, construction and services company Kier Group confirmed that it has been awarded a 15-year contract, valued at £140m, for repair and maintenance services on Area 13 of the Highways England network.
The FTSE 250 firm said the new Area 13 contract, which starts on 1 April 2017, will see Kier provide routine and cyclic maintenance, defect repairs, emergency incident response, traffic management and severe weather services.