London pre-open: Stocks seen touch weaker after Fed-fuelled gains

Stocks in London were expected to open a little weaker following the healthy gains in the previous session after the Federal Reserve stood pat on rates but signalled a hike by the end of year.

The FTSE 100 was called to open nine points lower than Thursday’s close at 6,902.

CMC Markets’ Jasper Lawler said: “The immediate reaction across markets to the Fed’s decision to keep rates on hold again has been that of lower treasury yields, higher stock prices and a weaker dollar. This reflects an understanding that the Fed isn’t about to raise rates for at least three months. It could easily be longer if US economic data remains sluggish.

“Focus will now begin to switch to upcoming economic data and whether that makes a rate hike in December more or less likely.”

He added that while the longer period of policy accommodation from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan is welcome, markets will struggle to shake off the sense that central banks are reaching their limits.

There are no major UK data due but in the US, Markit’s manufacturing PMI is at 1445 BST.

In corporate news, Vodafone and 4G-LTE telecommunications operator Afrimax Group announced a new non-equity partner market agreement for Cameroon.

The companies will launch LTE data services under the 'Vodafone Cameroon' brand initially in Cameroon's two biggest cities, Douala and Yaoundé.

Vodafone Partner Markets Chief Executive Diego Massidda said: "The next stage in our agreement with Afrimax for sub-Saharan Africa brings Cameroon to the Vodafone Partner Market family. I am delighted that consumers and businesses in Cameroon will now experience Vodafone's high-speed data services."

FTSE 100 engineering company Smiths Group is to sell its artificial life business to Endurance Lift Solutions, which provides artificial lift platforms to the oil and gas industry, for $39.5m, in order to use the proceeds to reinvest in growth opportunities.

The deal, anticipated to close by the end of the year, is subject to regulatory approval, with the management team also expected to transfer to Endurance Lift.

Indivior updated the market on the Federal Trade Commission investigation and class action litigation being filed against it on Friday.

On 29 July, the FTSE 250 company indicated that the FTC was seeking court action over the drug Suboxone, having investigated whether Indivior and its predecessor, Reckitt Benckiser US, had filed a citizen petition with the Food and Drug Administration and negotiated with competing manufacturers to maintain its monopoly.

It now faced a much larger opponent, with 35 US states and the District of Columbia filing a civil complaint alleging violations of state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws on Thursday.