London pre-open: Stocks to edge lower as pound boosted by Brexit hopes
London stocks were set to edge lower at the open on Friday as the pound was boosted by hopes that a Brexit deal can be struck.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 22 points lower at 7,164.
Sterling was trading up 0.2% against the dollar at 1.2462, having rallied 2% on Thursday after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish Premier Leo Varadkar said in a joint statement that they saw a pathway to a possible Brexit deal.
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, is due to meet UK Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay for talks later in the day.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "The process has dragged on, and there have been a few bumps along the way, but yesterday’s message was one of the more upbeat updates. There have been a number of false starts in the ordeal, but for now traders are content to snap up sterling."
Away from Brexit, Sino-US trade talks were in focus after US President Trump said on Thursday that discussions between the two nations were going "really well".
Madden noted reports over the last couple of days that the US was contemplating concessions regarding Huawei, as well as not pressing ahead with additional tariffs on Chinese imports, in exchange for a pact on the currency markets.
"Neither side wants to seem to be desperate for a trade deal, but both are clearly interested in making some sort of progress, otherwise the negotiations wouldn’t being going ahead," he said.
In UK corporate news, interdealer broker TP ICAP said it had agreed to pay £15.4m fine to settle a case with the UK's financial regulator relating to trades by its Tullett Prebon unit between 2008 and 2011.
The Financial Conduct Authority found that former managers in TP ICAP's Global Broking Division and in TP ICAP's Compliance Department “failed to act with due skill, care and diligence”. It also found that at the time there were inadequate systems and controls in place to deal with the risk of improper broker conduct.
Underlying first quarter core earnings fell at Entertainment One driven by higher costs and a softer performance at its family and brands division.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to £13.4 million from £17.3m, Entertainment One said on Friday. The company has agreed a £3.3bn takeover by Hasbro.
Man Group reported funds under management of $112.7bn as at 30 September, slipping from $114.4bn on 30 June, after it saw positive investment movement of $0.7bn, net outflows of $1.1bn, and currency and other impacts of negative $1.3bn in the quarter.
The FTSE 250 company noted it completed its $100m share repurchase earlier in the month, adding that it intended to repurchase up to another $100m of shares.