London pre-open: Stock seen lower as virus worries return

London stocks were set to fall at the open on Friday as worries about rising coronavirus cases returned.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 59 points lower at 6,280.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "For all the optimism about the delivery of a successful vaccine, the reality is that the announcement of a possible candidate was never likely to be able to put a stop to what is currently playing out across Europe, as well as the US, in terms of a sharp rise in coronavirus infection rates, hospitalisations, and ultimately, a sharp rise in mortality rates.

"In France, the number of people requiring hospitalisation rose to a record level yesterday, while here in the UK the number of people infected in a single day surged by nearly 50% to over 33,000. With both France and the UK already in the midst of a temporary lockdown, there is a concern that unless the case rate slows, any relaxation of restrictions could take longer to unfold, and increase the longer term potential for economic damage along with that.

"With the worst of the cold weather yet to arrive and the pace of new infections only expected to increase as we head towards year end, it is slowly becoming apparent that the arrival of a vaccine can’t come soon enough."

In corporate news, Indivior said the US federal court in the Western District of Virginia approved its agreement with the Department of Justice and other agencies and dismissed charges related to sales of a treatment for opioid addiction.

The ruling confirms Indivior's settlement with the DoJ announced on 24 July.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited has acquired a 50% share of the music catalogue of Grammy Award-winning songwriter, record producer, and punk-funk inventor, Rick James for an undisclosed sum.

The company said the deal involved publishing interests, writers' share, neighbouring rights and recorded masters share of income in his catalogue comprising 97 songs.

James is best known for his platinum certified album 'Street Songs', which spent an unprecedented 78 weeks on the US R&B chart, including 20 weeks at number 1, and included the global hit 'Super Freak'.