London pre-open: Stocks to nudge up ahead of Autumn Budget

London stocks were set to nudge up at the open on Wednesday as investors eyed the Autumn Budget.

The FTSE 100 was expected to open three points higher at 7,414.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said the Budget, due at 1230GMT, is highly unlikely to produce any surprises.

"The Chancellor’s plans will undoubtedly be dictated by the fact that the Office for Budget Responsibility will have to downgrade its outlook for the UK economy from the figures we saw in March, where it estimated that the UK economy would see 2% GDP growth this year. This is likely to see a downgrade to about 1.5%," he said.

"Some measures we could see is the lifting of the public sector pay cap for certain workers, as well as measures to support the housing market and in particular first time buyers. Other measures could be tweaks to business rates as well as changes to pension tax relief.

"We could also see new pollution taxes on diesel cars and changes to the way VAT is levied on small businesses, but anyone looking to see a big and bold budget will do well not to hold their breath if history is any guide.

"Sadly this government appears to be a prisoner of its circumstances and lacks the imagination or capacity to do anything other than to tinker around the edges."

Once the budget is over, investors are likely to turn their attention to the minutes form the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, due at 1900 GMT.

In corporate news, Hammerson has sold its 64.5% share of the Place des Halles shopping centre in Strasbourg, France for a total net vendor price of £258m, slightly above June's book value.

Contracts have been exchanged with LaSalle Investment Management, the co-owner of the centre, and the sale is expected to occur before year end.

United Utilities profit rose 10% in the first half as the water and waste management company increased revenue and cut costs.

Underlying operating profit for the six months to the end of September increased to £344m from £312.5m a year earlier. Revenue rose by £23m to £876m and total costs fell by £16m.

GlaxoSmithKline said ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company which it majority owns, with Pfizer. and Shionogi as shareholders, has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Juluca.

The company said it was indicated as a “complete regimen” for the maintenance treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults who are virologically suppressed on a stable antiretroviral regimen for at least six months with no history of treatment failure and no known substitutions associated with resistance to the individual components of Juluca.

Business information and events group Euromoney Institutional Investor has reached a binding agreement to sell its minority equity stake in Dealogic, a provider of content and software solutions to financial firms, to Ion Investment Group for approximately $135m, it announced on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 company said consideration will be received in cash, with completion of the sale subject to regulatory approvals, expected to take approximately six weeks.