London pre-open: Stocks seen up after positive Wall St finish
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 09 Dec 2021
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Thursday following an upbeat finish in the US.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 10 points higher at 7,347.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "After two days of strong gains, yesterday's European session was more of a consolidation session, with some modest profit taking, after the UK became the latest country to impose slightly stronger Covid restrictions on its population.
"Having recovered most of the losses seen in the post-Thanksgiving sell-off investors now caught between hope that vaccines will be able to afford enough protection against the new variant, against concerns that even a significant acceleration in infection rates might overwhelm health systems.
"The news that a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would afford decent protection against Omicron did initially prompt a sharp move higher, however the move didn't stick, largely down to ongoing uncertainty about how the spread of the virus will affect economic growth right now."
In corporate news, Sports Direct owner Frasers Group reported a 75% rise in interim profit, driven by the strong reopening of stores after lockdown, new Flannels stores and continued growth in online sales.
Pre-tax profit was £186.0m, up from £106.1m a year ago. The company, owned by Mike Ashley said physical and online sales continued to be strong but sounded a note of caution over cost increases, supply chain issues and potential squeezes on consumer spending power.
Rolls-Royce said annual free cash flow would be better than expected after trading improved but sales at its civil aerospace were lower than forecast. The FTSE 100 engine maker said it also benefited from a delay to about £300m of outflows from 2021 to 2022. As a result, free cash outflow in 2021 is expected to be better than earlier guidance for £2bn.
Rolls-Royce said defence trading was in line with expectations but civil aerospace engine sales and aftermarket activity were at the low end of guidance.
Cybersecurity group Avast has agreed to acquire US self-sovereign identity firm Evernym.
Avast said that the acquisition was expected to close in mid-December, with the general availability of products based on Evernym's technology set to follow in 2022.
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