London pre-open: Stocks to edge up as OPEC meeting eyed
London stocks were set to edge up at the open on Friday as investors continued to digest a more hawkish than expected policy announcement from the Bank of England and looked ahead to the OPEC meeting in Vienna.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 13 points higher at 7,568.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Yesterday’s surprise conversion to the hawk camp by Chief economist Andrew Haldane, he of the August 2016 QE ‘sledgehammer’, appears to have had a change of heart when it comes to being concerned about the possible risks of inflation, as he joined external MPC members Michael Saunders and Ian McCafferty in pushing for an increase in the level of bank rate.
"This unexpected development has helped put a floor under the pound, which hit a seven month low against the US dollar yesterday and which had been in a long steady decline since Governor Carney’s remarks at the IMF in mid-April when he cautioned about taking a May rate hike for granted."
Oil prices were likely to be in focus amid expectations that OPEC will end its production ceiling and lift supply capacity by between 500,000 and 1m barrels a day.
In addition, the EU’s sanctions against a range of US goods will kick in on Friday. Hewson said "these could well prompt a counter response from the US, with the European auto sector likely to be next in the firing line, if President Trump remains true to his word".
Corporate news was thin on the ground.
Tests of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer have been shown to benefit from a combined treatment with Shire's Onivyde drug.
Presenting the results of a review of more than 2,500 patient records with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, the FTSE 100 pharma group said enhanced recognition of symptoms and a standardised treatment approach may help improve diagnosis, patient care and outcomes for a cancer with poor prognosis and low survival rate.
Elsewhere, Italian financial market regulator, Consob, has approved gambling software group Playtech’s mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares of Snaitech it does not own.
Playtech currently holds a stake of nearly 81% in Snaitech following its €846m takeover bid for the Italian gaming firm, plus on-market purchases of shares.
Playtech currently held almost 81.0% of Snaitech, as a result of its €846m takeover bid, plus on-market purchases of shares.