LONDON (ShareCast) - Lifted by an upbeat session in Asia, London's blue chips are expected to move higher early on.

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 14 points higher than yesterday's close of 6,788.07.

Data released from Japan indicated that while household and consumer spending had declined, it was not as bad as had been feared. The country introduced a higher tax rate in April which has weakened enthusiasm for spending.

Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK said: "Europe's markets look set to open higher despite some Japanese retail data that suggests that the Japanese economy is starting to lose some momentum.

"For today the focus is set to be on the UK economy this morning with the latest consumer credit and lending data for June."

The consumer credit figure is expected to show £0.8bn, while while lending to individuals is predicted to have slowed to £1.9bn in June.

Over in the US, July consumer confidence is anticipated to deliver a rise from 85.2 to 85.5.

In this morning's company news, supermarket chain Wm Morrison revealed it has appointed Andrew Higginson as its new Chairman, due to replace Sir Ian Gibson when he retires next year. Higginson, a former Executive Director at Tesco for 15 years, currently chairs the boards of fellow retailers Poundland and N Brown and also stands as Senior Independent Director at TV and broadband group BSkyB. He will join Morrison's board in October as Non-Executive Deputy Chairman and Chairman Elect.

A good performance by GKN's car driveshaft business fuelled higher half-year profits at the automotive and aerospace engineer, but the strong pound knocked £247m off sales. The group increased its interim dividend by 8% to 2.8p per share.

Oil giant BP has announced second-quarter profits 34% higher than the same period last year, but said further sanctions imposed on Russia "could have a material adverse impact" on its business and corporate relationships.

Profits are expected to be beat expectations for packaging and paper company Mondi in the first half of the year, with further clarity given on earnings guidance. The FTSE 100 group said basic underlying earnings per share would be between 49 and 54 euro cents, a fairly wide range which would represent either a fall on the 49.4 cents in the equivalent period in the prior year or up to a 9% gain.

Segro has acquired a portfolio of four UK logistics properties from Harbert European Real Estate Fund III for £49.5m, which it will fund from existing resources. The portfolio comprises four Grade A warehouses totalling 53,100 square metres. The purchase price reflects a net initial yield of 6.3%, generating annual net rent of £3.2m.

NR

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