London pre-open: Stocks seen flat as investors digest consumer confidence survey
London stocks were expected to open little changed on Wednesday as investors mull over a survey showing a rebound in UK consumer confidence.
The FTSE 100 was set to open two points lower than Tuesday’s close at 6,818.
Investors will be digesting the latest survey on UK consumer confidence, which showed a rebound in August.
GfK’s headline consumer confidence index rose five points to -7, which was slightly above consensus expectations of -8 but still well below the 12-month average of -1.
Meanwhile, the index of major purchases was up nine points.
Joe Staton, head of Market Dynamics at GfK, said: “We're reporting some recovery in the Index this month as consumers settle into the new wait-and-see reality of a post-Brexit, pre-exit UK. The uptick in confidence is driven by good news from hard data, the combination of historic low interest rates matched with falling prices and high levels of employment.”
There are no further UK data releases of note due, but eurozone inflation and unemployment rate are at 1000 BST.
In corporate news, favourable sports results and strong casino winnings lifted first-half results from 888 Holdings, helping to make up for its failed plot to buy William Hill. Revenue in the first six months of the year hit $262m, a 19% increase on the same period last year, with profits before tax upped 39% to $27.8m.
James Fisher said it expected to return to growth in the second half and produce "a good improvement" in the full year after another fall in revenue and profits in the first half. Despite continued weakness in its offshore oil market, group sales only fell 2% to £209.3m thanks to strong performances in Specialist Technical, Marine Support and Tankships, while underlying group profits slipped only 0.5% to £19.9m.