London pre-open: Stocks seen lower after Asian weakness
London stocks were set to fall at the open on Friday, taking their cue from weakness in Asia following the release of disappointing data.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 26 points lower at 7,390.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Asia markets this morning have seen more of a decline and this is likely to see a similarly weak European open this morning though some of the losses could also be some month end portfolio readjustment, after a fairly decent November."
The downbeat tone in Asia came as data showed that Japanese industrial production dropped 4.2% last month, while industrial production in South Korea declined 1.7%.
On home shores, the latest survey from GfK showed that UK consumer confidence remained subdued in November and was at the lowest level in the run-up to a general election since 2010. GfK's sentiment index was unchanged at -14.
Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, said: "In the face of Brexit and election uncertainty, consumers are clearly in a ‘wait-and-see’ mode.
"The general election is potentially an opportunity to move us out of the doldrums, but for this to happen there must be a clear result. Uncertainty is nobody’s friend.”
In corporate news, AstraZeneca said the US Food and Drug Administration had accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) and granted priority review for its Imfinzi treatment of patients with previously untreated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
The sBLA was based on positive results from a phase III CASPIAN trial published in The Lancet, showing Imfinzi in combination with standard-of-care (SoC) chemotherapy demonstrated a “statistically significant and clinically meaningful” improvement in overall survival vs SoC, the company said.