London pre-open: Stocks seen lower on weak Chinese data

London stocks looked set for losses at the open on Friday, taking their cue from a downbeat Asian session following the release of weak Chinese data and after European Union leaders said the Brexit withdrawal agreement was not open for renegotiation.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 65 points lower at 6,812.

CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "Overnight, China announced a number of economic indicators. The fixed asset investment reading was 5.9%, and economists were expecting 5.8%. The industrial output came in at 5.4%, while dealers were expecting 5.9%.

"Economists were predicting an increase of 8.8% for retail sales, and it came in at 8.1%. Investors were spooked by the largely disappointing numbers, and there was a sell-off in Asian markets overnight."

Meanwhile, Brexit was in focus yet again after Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU charm offensive yielded no breakthroughs. European Union leaders rejected May’s plea to put a time limit on the Irish backstop, in a blow to her hopes of reaching a deal at a Brussels summit on Thursday.

May had arrived at the European Council meeting hoping to win changes on the contentious backstop, designed to stop a hard border with Ireland in the event of no free trade deal with the EU, and bring back a deal she get could get through parliament.

But it was opposed by Ireland, France, Sweden, Spain and Belgium, who voiced doubts that the prime minister would be able to sell the technical concession to hostile MPs in Westminster.

In corporate news, Balfour Beatty said its performance for the year will be above previous expectations after sales of its interests in two infrastructure projects exceed directors' valuations.

The FTSE 250 construction group said it was on track to achieve industry-standard margins in all earnings-based businesses in the second half of 2018.

Aggreko said that its subsidiary, Aggreko Events Services Japan Limited (AESJL), has been awarded the supply contract for temporary electricity generation by The Tokyo Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

As part of the supply contract, AESJL will provide temporary electricity generation and distribution systems to support the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

British American Tobacco announced two new management board roles, in a bid to accelerate the implementation of its strategy, with a director of new categories to report directly to the chief marketing officer.

The FTSE 100 cigarette giant also announced the new director of digital and information, to report directly to the CEO and be responsible for “driving digital transformation”. It said the roles of chief operating officer and group business development director would cease to exist.