London pre-open: Stocks seen lower after Amazon, Apple earnings disappoint
London stocks were set to fall at the open on Friday following disappointing earnings from Apple and Amazon overnight.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 20 points lower at 7,229.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European markets have spent the last couple of days slipping off their recent highs, more on inertia than anything else, and look set to open slightly lower again this morning after the earnings disappointments from Amazon and Apple sent US futures lower."
On the macroeconomic front, investors will eye the release of UK mortgage approvals, net lending and consumer credit figures for September at 0930 BST.
In corporate news, NatWest Bank reported a surge in third quarter profits as it released £242m set aside to cover bad loans during the Covid crisis.
The company said operating pre-tax profits rose to £1.07bn from £355m a year ago, but lower than the £1.5bn in the second quarter.
Hilton Food Group announced it has acquired UK foodservice meat supplier Fairfax Meadow Europe from Argent Holdings.
The FTSE 250 company said it paid £23.8m in cash, taking into account adjustments for net debt and normalised working capital, funded from its debt facilities. It said the acquisition would improve access to the out-of-home channel.