London pre-open: Stocks seen higher as investors eye Carney
London stocks were set for a slightly firmer open on Tuesday as investors eye the Bank of England's financial stability report and a speech by governor Mark Carney.
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 10 points higher at 7,456.
The financial stability report is at 1030 BST, while Carney's speech is at 1100 BST.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said Carney is expected to express concerns about the level of credit usage.
Investors will also be keeping an eye on the political front after Prime Minister Theresa May agreed a confidence and supply deal on Monday with Northern Ireland's controversial Democratic Unionist Party that will allow her to cling to power.
Madden said: "The pact between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party has given the UK some much needed political clarity. The Tories will be able to form a minority government with the supply and confidence of the DUP. Theresa May will still have a battle on her hands, but the Prime Minister is in a much better position now that the Northern Irish party will back her on certain big issues."
In corporate news, LondonMetric Property said it had sold its last remaining office asset in Marlow to Kildare Partners for £68.5m.
The 231,000 sq ft office property is 96.7% let off a weighted average unexpired lease term of seven years to Allergan, Dun & Bradstreet, Lexington Catering, Icon Clinical and Aptos. The rental income is £4.9m per annum.
Petrofac issued a pre-close trading update on Tuesday morning, ahead of the announcement of its half year results for the six months to 30 June on 30 August, claiming underlying net profit for the first half of 2017 was expected to be between $135m and $145m, with full year net profit expected to be weighted to the second half of the year.
The FTSE 250 company reported a new order intake of $1.7bn in the year to date, with a backlog of $13.0bn at 31 May.
Net debt was forecast to be around $1.1bn at 30 June, which would be in line with expectations.
Builders' merchant Travis Perkins announced the appointment of Stuart Chambers as its chairman with effect from November.
He will join the board on 1 September as a non-executive director and chairman designate, succeeding Robert Walker as chairman when he retires in November.