London pre-open: Stocks seen flat as investors wind down for Christmas

London stocks were set for a flat open on Wednesday as the pre-Christmas lull set in, although investors will be keeping an eye on developments across the pond where the US tax bill is another step closer to being passed.

The FTSE 100 was expected to open steady at 7,544.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Having seen the bill pass through Congress fairly easily last night, and pass through the Senate this morning it seems increasingly likely that the bill will be signed into law by President Trump in the coming days, though it will need to go back to a revote in Congress after a procedural snag made last night’s vote invalid. That obstacle aside it now looks increasingly likely that just over a year since being elected that President Trump is likely to have something to show for his first year as President.

"The big question now is whether having seen stocks rise in anticipation of legislation being passed, that the current momentum is maintained or we see a case of 'buy the rumour, sell the news' as we head towards the Christmas break."

On the macroeconomic calendar, the CBI distributive trades survey is at 1100 GMT.

In corporate news, United Arab Emirates-focussed integrated healthcare provider NMC Health updated the market on Wednesday, reporting that operations during the second half have continued to perform in line with expectations.

The FTSE 100 firm said that as a result, it remained comfortable with the full-year guidance provided for the 2017 full year, which was reiterated during the first half results conference call.

Following an unplanned outage on the rail unloading facilities at Drax Power Station, Drax Group confirmed on Wednesday that biomass deliveries are currently restricted and, in order to optimise available supplies, generation on the two renewable obligation certificate (ROC) units has been reduced. The FTSE 250 company said the two units would then be taken offline for a short period.

London property developer Shaftesbury has snapped up six buildings on Neal Street near Covent Garden for £24.6m.

Adding to its 14.9 acre portfolio in London's West End, the FTSE 250 group acquired six buildings at the northern third of the popular shopping byway, with current contracted income of £0.6mn per year.

Micro Focus International said John Schultz had left its board and will be replaced by an independent non-executive director. The business software company said Schultz had stepped down immediately.

After his recent appointment as chief legal officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) he needs to concentrate on his new job and Micro Focus requires a more independent director, Micro Focus said.