London pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of ECB announcement
London stocks were set for a fairly muted open on Thursday despite an upbeat session on Wall Street, as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank and any fresh Brexit-related headlines.
The FTSE 100 was called to open just two points higher at 6,844.
The ECB is expected to keep monetary policy unchanged, so attention will turn to Mario Draghi's press conference.
"There is little doubt that Draghi will hit a dovish tone in the press conference as he highlights economic developments are weaker than expected with global risks still prominent," said London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler. "Should the ECB reduce its inflation forecasts and Draghi focus his speech on weaker growth and increasing risks, investors will quickly push back hopes of a rate rise."
Meanwhile, sterling was trading down 0.1% against the dollar at 1.3057, having hit its best level since early November on Wednesday.
"There is talk the Labour party is moving towards supporting a law that would delay Brexit, and the EU said an extension is possible, and that has lifted sterling. Even if an extension comes to fruition, it only defers the issue," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
In corporate news, St James's Place saw inflows slow in the final months of the year and saw challenging market conditions squeeze funds under management.
The FTSE 100 wealth manager recorded net inflows of £2.6bn in the final quarter but group FUM shrank to £95.6bn by the end of December from £100.6bn three months before.
Anglo American reported a 7% increase in total production on a copper equivalent basis for the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017, excluding the effect of the stoppage at Minas-Rio.
De Beers diamond production increased by 12% to 9.1m carats due to production increases at Orapa.
Copper production increased by 23% to 183,500 tonnes, with increases at all operations, reflecting continued strong operational performance and planned higher grades, the company said.
Online gaming provider 888 Holdings announced that Itai Pazner, previously its chief operating officer, has been appointed as its new chief executive officer.
The company said that appointment came after Itai Frieberger stood down as the group's CEO. It said Frieberger would remain a director of the group for up to 12 months during his notice period, to help to enable a "seamless transition" of responsibilities to his successor, and support the progress of a number of 888’s strategic initiatives that were already underway.