London pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of data slew

London stocks were set for a muted open on Wednesday as investors eyed a slew of key data releases amid ongoing uncertainty about rising rates.

The FTSE 100 was called to open six points lower at 7,231.

London capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said: "Uncertainty is prevailing in the financial markets, we are seeing more investors opting to wait and see how risks surrounding rising US treasury yields, global growth and China play out. Near term risks to global financial stability have increased rapidly over the past few months.

"The markets have been relatively complacent, but we are starting to see an acknowledgement of these risks which is keeping traders on the sidelines."

On the data front, industrial and manufacturing production figures are due at 0930 BST, along with the goods trade balance and gross domestic product for August. UK economic growth is expected to have eased to just 0.1% on the month from 0.3% in July. Meanwhile, manufacturing and industrial production are expected to have ticked up marginally, although this is unlikely to cancel out the impact of much weaker economic growth, said Lawler.

In corporate news, PageGroup expects its full year operating profit to be marginally ahead of consensus after notching its highest quarterly growth rate in seven years.

Group gross profit growth hit 19.7% in the third quarter or 17.2% at reported currency rates.

The merger between SSE and npower has been provisionally cleared by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.

SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies welcomed the decision, adding that the creation of a “new, independent energy and services retailer has potential to deliver real benefits for customers and the market as a whole”.