London pre-open: Stocks to drop as investors eye US-Canada trade talks
London stocks were set to drop at the open on Wednesday as investors eyed the resumption of trade talks between the US and Canada and the latest reading on the UK services sector.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 18 points lower at 7,440.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The main preoccupation for investors continues to be on whether the US is serious about arriving at some form of deal with Canada over NAFTA in the wake of President Trump’s tweets at the weekend, that it wasn’t and isn’t a political necessity to get a deal.
"In addition to that anxiety levels are growing ahead of the weekend and the possible imposition of another $200bn worth of tariffs on Chinese goods later this week."
On the data front, Markit's services PMI at 0930 BST is expected to show a slightly improvement to 53.9 in August from 53.5 in July.
In corporate news, shareholders in Berkeley Group were told on Wednesday how market conditions in London and the South East had remained consistent with those reported at the company’s full-year results in June.
The FTSE 100 housebuilder said pricing had remained “robust” as there was demand for good quality, well-located homes that enhanced communities and met the local housing need. However, it was still a market that lacked “urgency”, with London remaining constrained by high transaction costs, restrictive income multiple limits on mortgage borrowing, and prevailing economic uncertainty, accentuated by Brexit.
Barratt Developments aims to build 3-5% more houses over coming years as the UK's largest housebuilder provided investors with some new medium-term targets alongside final results that were in line with recent guidance.
For the year to 30 June, the FTSE 100 group increased profit before tax 9.2% to £835.5m and earnings per share 8.5% to 66.5p.
William Hill has teamed up in the US with casino group Eldorado Resorts as exclusive partner in the provision of digital and land-based sports betting services as well as online gaming.
Within weeks the partners will open William Hill sportsbooks in five properties across three states - The Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Jersey; The Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in West Virginia and three casinos in Mississippi - The Lady Luck Casino in Vicksburg, Isle of Capri in Lula and Tropicana Casino in Greenville.