London pre-open: Stocks seen up as China eases Covid curbs further

London stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday after China announced a further loosening of its Covid restrictions.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 43 points higher at 7,564.

Danske Bank said: "The Chinese health authorities this morning announced that they will allow the use of home quarantine for some Covid patients and scrap test requirements for most public venues. In all, 10 new measures were introduced immediately.

"This is the second round of easing of Covid restrictions in China. When the first easing was introduced in November it spurred a strong rally in Chinese equities. Hang Seng is up 1.2% this morning as most other markets are in red."

Investors will also be mulling the latest trade data out of China, which showed that exports shrank year-on-year in November by the most since the start of the pandemic, while imports declined at the fastest pace in 30 months.

In corporate news, interim profits at greetings card maker Moonpig halved as it warned that trading conditions had become progressively more challenging through October and November.

The company reported pre-tax profits of £9.1m, down 51.3% and said that "given the continued macroeconomic uncertainty", it now expects revenue for the full year to be approximately £320 million.

Elsewhere, Games Workshop announced the appointment of a new non-executive chairman as it said trading since the last update in September has been in line with expectations.

The company, which makes miniature wargames, has appointed John Brewis as non-exec chair with effect from 1 January 2023.

It also said that its estimate of the results for the six months to 27 November, at actual exchange rates, is core revenue of not less than £210m, up from £191.5m in 2021, and licensing revenue of around £14m, down from £20.1m.

Pre-tax profit for the period is estimated at not less than £83m, compared to £88.2m in the same period a year earlier.