London pre-open: Stocks seen weaker on downbeat Asian cues
London stocks were set for a weaker open on Tuesday following a downbeat session in Asia, after North Korea fired a missile into Japanese waters.
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 17 points lower at 7,360.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "Traders will be keeping an eye on the UK construction purchasing managers index and the consensus is for 55 in June, and that compares with May’s reading of 56. The Bank of England has become more hawkish in the past couple of weeks, and dealers will be keeping an eye on economic indicators to try and determine if and when the UK central bank will lift off.
"Homebuilders like Persimmon, Redrow, Bovis Homes and Taylor Wimpey will also be sensitive to the UK construction data. The housebuilders have benefitted from the Bank of England’s loose monetary policy, and should that policy change, we could see a reversal of fortunes for the sector. "
The construction PMI is at 0930 BST.
In corporate news, Sainsbury's enjoyed a strong start to its financial year as grocery sales growth accelerated and general merchandise, including Argos, outperformed the market.
Like-for-like retail sales excluding fuel grew 2.3% in the 16 weeks to 1 July, with grocery up 3%, general merchandise up 1% and clothing up 7.2%.
Low-cost airline Wizz Air reported a 23.6% jump in passenger numbers on the year in June to 2.49m, while the load factor - which gauges how full the flights were - nudged up to 92.3% from 91.7%.
On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers were up 20.9% to 25.22m, while the load factor increased to 90.5% from 88.4%.
Budget airline Ryanair, meanwhile, reported a 12% rise in passenger numbers in June to 11.8m, while the load factor ticked up to 96% from 94%.
On a rolling 12-month basis, traffic was up 13% to 123.8m.
Steam, peristaltic pumping and fluid path technology company Spirax-Sarco Engineering confirmed it had completed the acquisition of Chromalox .
The FTSE 250 company had initially announced the $415m deal on 26 May.
Spirax-Sarco said it would now invest in Chromalox to strengthen its direct sales channels, as well as leverage its footprint to grow Chromalox's presence outside of its core markets in the US.