London pre-open: Stocks set for slightly higher start
AstraZeneca
11,270.00p
10:15 23/04/24
Stocks are set to push slightly higher at the start of trading, even as investors wait on the result of lawmakers' vote in Parliament on the Prime Minister's proposed withdrawal agreement.
FTSE 100
8,047.99
10:15 23/04/24
FTSE 250
19,678.72
10:15 23/04/24
FTSE 350
4,422.07
10:15 23/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,376.33
10:15 23/04/24
Micro Focus International
532.00p
16:40 30/01/23
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
21,853.83
10:15 23/04/24
Software & Computer Services
2,379.52
10:15 23/04/24
Support Services
10,624.04
10:14 23/04/24
Travis Perkins
726.00p
10:15 23/04/24
The FTSE 100 is seen starting the session 26 points higher at 7,260.
In parallel, the pound was edging up by 0.14% to 1.1641 as traders bid their time ahead of the vote.
MPs are scheduled to begin to debate the government's motion at 09:30 GMT with the voting due to start at 14:30 GMT.
"At the cost of stepping down as PM, Theresa May has won over the support of Eurosceptics Boris Jonson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. However, the DUP aren’t playing ball meaning it is still questionable as to whether Theresa May’s deal makes it across the line. It seems May's fate rests on Brexit-supporting Labour MPs," said LCG's Jasper Lawler.
In order to circumvent the objections of the Speaker of the House to a third vote on Theresa May's proposed deal, lawmakers will not be asked to vet the political declaration as well, only the wihdrawal agreement, which covers the post-Brexit transition period, the Irish backstop and citizens' rights.
That might allow the government to secure Brexit and clinch an extension of Article 50 until 22 May in order to sort out the paperwork that is left, in one fell swoop.
But it is not clear if Parliament will sill need to approve the political declaration at a later date or if the law can be changed so that it is no longer needed.
A raft of UK data is scheduled for release ahead of the vote in Parliament, including a reading on gross domestic product in the fourth quarter and consumer credit and mortgage lending data covering the month of February.
To take note of, overnight mortgage lender Nationwide reported a month-on-month increase of 0.2% in UK house prices during the month of March.
That pushed the year-on-year rate of growth up from 0.4% during the previous month to 0.7% (consensus: 0.5%).
According to Samuel Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics, the steady levels of mortgage approvals seen year-to-date, together with signs that wages could continue to grow at a 3% pace and only gradual increases in mortgage rates pointed to year-on-year growth in house prices recovering to about 2% by the end of 2019.
For later in the the session, a raft of economic reports are scheduled for release in the States, including data on personal income and spending for January and February and the Chicago NAPM regional manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers' Index.
Drug giant Astra announces share placing
AstraZeneca plans to raise $3.5bn (£2.7bn) in a share placing to fund a new cancer drug collaboration with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo and repay some of its bonds. The collaboration is for the novel HER2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, with the two companies aiming to accelerate and expand development of trastuzumab deruxtecan across breast and other cancers.
Software company Micro Focus International reiterated its previous guidance for the financial year on Friday, as its investors gathered for its annual general meeting. The FTSE 100 firm said that guidance was for further moderation of revenue decline, and consequently constant currency revenue for the continuing Micro Focus product portfolio business for the 12 months to 31 October 2019 was expected to be between -4% and -6%, compared to a decline of 7.1% for the 2018 financial year.
Travis Perkins chief executive John Carter will step down in August after five years in the role and be succeeded by Nick Roberts, currently CEO of engineer Atkins. Roberts will join the builders merchants as a director of and CEO designate on 1 July and take over the full role on 5 August, with Carter remaining with the group until the end of the year.