London pre-open: Stocks seen lower ahead of borrowing figures
Stocks in London were set to open a little weaker on Friday as investors awaited the release of borrowing figures on what is otherwise likely to be a fairly quiet day.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 10 points lower than Thursday’s close at 7,016.
On the data front, UK public sector net borrowing figures are at 0930 BST.
On Thursday, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said policymakers had not discussed whether to extend the €80bn-a-month bond purchase programme that expires next March.
CMC Markets’ Colin Cieszynski said: “The ECB meeting was the main event where President Draghi left the door to an extension of the central bank’s QE stimulus program past March indicating changes were not discussed but suggesting there could be more news in December following a program review.
“He indicated that the ECB would likely not stop QE cold turkey leaving the door open to tapering in future.”
In corporate news, British American Tobacco launched a $47bn cash and shares take-over offer for the 57.8% of Reynolds American which it did not already own.
London-listed BAT had not held prior negotiations with Reynolds, the company said in a statement.
The offer valued Reynolds at $56.50 a share, for a 20% premium over the closing price of its shares on 20 October.
Combined, the two companies would enjoy a leading position in the US tobacco market and hold a significant presence in high-growth emerging markets across South America Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Playtech announced on Friday that it has acquired bingo software and hardware solutions provider ECM Systems.
The FTSE 250 company said ECM supplies software and support services to the UK retail bingo market, including major operators Gala Leisure, Mecca Bingo and the leading independent bingo operators.
Intercontinental Hotels Group’s third quarter revenue increased with a strong performance in China, but was affected by the strength of dollar and the volatile foreign exchange market.
In a trading update, revenue per available room for the third quarter grew 1.3%, compared to the previous quarter, and up 1.8% for the year-to-date.