London pre-open: Stocks seen higher after Thursday's slump
London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday following heavy losses in the previous session.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 21 points higher at 7,033.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European markets look set to open slightly higher in the wake of yesterday’s declines, after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged and Asia markets finished the week slightly weaker.
"Today’s main event is the latest US retail sales numbers for June, which are likely to see an improvement from the declines in May, but also speak to a reluctance of US consumers to spend all of their stimulus payments at once.
"US consumer spending has been fairly stop-start this year, with the significant amounts of fiscal stimulus, helping to drive a rebound in consumption, but the recovery has been patchy with significant numbers of US consumers choosing not to spend all of their stimulus windfalls."
In corporate news, luxury goods maker Burberry reported a sharp rise in first quarter sales and forecast and maintained full-year guidance as younger customers were attracted to the brand.
The company said revenue increased 98% year on year to £479m on a constant currency basis.
Comparable store sales rebounded strongly, rising 90% year on year and 1% against 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic. Full-price sales growth accelerated 26% compared with 2019 driven by new, younger clientele; exited markdowns in digital and mainline stores globally.
Segro has agreed the sale of a portfolio of six Italian urban warehouses for €127.5m (£108.91m) to AXA IM Alts, on behalf of clients.
The company said the warehouses were developed by Segro-Vailog for a “global online retail company” to support the growth of its distribution network in Italy.
It said the portfolio had a total floor space of 56,000 square metres, with five of the sales already completed, and the sixth to complete later in the year following additional works.