London pre-open: Stocks seen up after heavy losses

London stocks were poised to rise at the open on Friday following heavy losses in the previous session, amid reports that Prime Minister Theresa May will confirm her exit date later in the day.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 17 points higher at 7,248, after ending down 1.4% on Thursday amid worries about Brexit and escalating trade tensions between the US and China.

CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "UK voters went to the polls yesterday to cast their vote on the EU elections, and the speculation was that the Tories got trounced.

"The possibility of Mrs May leaving Downing Street in the near-term has weighed on the pound as dealers ponder the possibility of pro-Brexit Boris Johnson leading the country, or it might set in motion a chain of events that brings about another general election. Talk of Theresa May stetting set out a timeframe to set down has been has been doing the rounds in the past 24 hours."

According to reports, the leadership contest to elect a new Tory leader would start on 10 June and last around six weeks.

The pound was up 0.2% against the dollar at 1.2681, still trading around four-month lows.

On the data front, UK retail sales are due at 0930 BST, while the CBI distributive trades survey is at 1100 BST.

In corporate news, Informa said it traded well in the first four months of 2019 and was confident about meeting expectations for annual results. The publishing and events company reported steady trading across its business.

Thermal processing specialist Bodycote maintained full-year guidance as group revenue for the four months of to April 30 rose 1% to £245m.

The company said it had seen "excellent" growth in civil aerospace revenues, offset by anticipated weakness in automotive and general industrial revenues against strong comparatives from the same period last year.

Stagecoach confirmed that, along with its partners SNCF and Virgin, it has formally started legal action against the Department for Transport after its bid was disqualified from the next West Coast Partnership rail franchise.

The FTSE 250 passenger transport operator said a claim has been issued at the High Court in London under Part 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules, together with a judicial review claim, alleging that the DfT breached its statutory duties.