London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as investors mull FOMC minutes

London stocks were set to fall at the open on Thursday following weakness in the US and Asia.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 83 points lower at 6,029.

Investors will be mulling the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes released overnight.

Capital Economics said: "The minutes of the most recent FOMC policy meeting in late July revealed that Fed officials have gone cold on the possibility of introducing yield curve control measures and now favour introducing some form of outcome- or calendar-based forward guidance in the statement, which would be combined with the adoption of an average inflation target in the longer-run strategy and goals statement."

In UK corporate news, Frasers Group said it planned to spend £100m on its digital elevation strategy and forecast a 10-30% improvement in underlying core earnings next year as 2020 profits fell by a fifth due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reported profit before tax fell to £143.5m from £179.2m as the company formerly known as Sports Direct scrapped a final dividend.

Group revenue increased by 6.9% to £3.9bn, driven by rises in its UK and European retail and premium lifestyle divisions, which offset falls in the rest of the world and wholesale & licensing units.

“With digital transformation now at the forefront, the successful reopening of our stores after the Covid-19 lockdown and continuing strong web performance, we are confident in achieving between a 10% and 30% improvement in underlying EBITDA during 2021,” the company said.

John Laing Group reported a net asset value of £1.53bn at the end of its first half on Thursday, down from £1.6bn year-on-year, as its net asset value per share slid to 309 p from 325p.

The FTSE 250 company said that made for a negative total return of 6% for the six months ended 30 June, swinging from a positive 3% return in the first half of last year.

Its board still declared a dividend of 1.88p per share, up from 1.84p a year ago.