London pre-open: Subdued start expected amid mixed economic data
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Friday 19 Sep 2025
(Sharecast News) - A subdued start was expected on UK markets on Friday, following two straight days of gains, as investors digested some mixed economic data.
FTSE 100 futures were pointing to no change for the UK benchmark index in pre-market trading, following a 0.4% rise over the past two trading sessions.
In economic news, consumer confidence tracked lower in September, a long-running survey showed on Friday, as concerns about day-to-day costs mounted. The latest consumer confidence index from GfK came in at -19. That was two points down on August, and one point higher than September 2024. Within that, all sub-measures were lower.
Meanwhile, UK retail sales volumes rose 0.5% in August, the Office for National Statistics reported. This was in line with the prior month's gain and ahead of the 0.3% increase expected by analysts. Excluding fuel, retail sales growth picked up to 0.8% from 0.4% the previous month.
In corporate news, Kainos Group said it had bought Canadian IT specialist consultancy Davis Pierrynowski for an undisclosed sum. Established in 2014, Nova Scotia-based Davis Pier works across public sector and community organisations, including projects to modernise the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Nova Scotia Healthcare, and Early Learning and Childcare. Kainos added.
Banking and wealth management firm Investec expects interim results to be broadly in line with the prior period, supported by a solid performance across its core banking and wealth operations despite a volatile macro backdrop. For the six months ended 30 September, adjusted earnings per share were expected to be between 38.7p and 41.5p, compared with 39.5p a year earlier, while adjusted operating profits before tax were seen between £451.0m and £481.8m.
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