London pre-open: Stocks seen flat as investors eye US PCE inflation
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 29 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a steady open on Friday after three consecutive days of losses, as investors eyed the latest US PCE inflation numbers.
The FTSE 100 was called to open flat at 9,217.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "There's been little in the way of economic or corporate catalysts in either direction this week.
"US stocks however reached fresh highs yesterday, after second quarter GDP growth numbers were revised upwards to 3.3% from an initial estimate of 3.0%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted the biggest rise of the major indices, rising 0.5% despite a small dip in the value of AI titan Nvidia as investors took stock of its latest set of forecast-beating numbers.
"Donald Trump's efforts to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud has entered a new chapter after she filed a lawsuit requesting that the court declares the move 'unlawful and void'. Meanwhile, one of the more doveish of the central bank's governors, Christopher Waller, has been flying the flag for further rate cuts, pledging support for a quarter-point cut at the September meeting and calling for further reductions in due course in a bid to bring rates to a more 'neutral' stance of around 3%.
"Markets are pricing in around a high probability of a cut by the Fed next month, and today's PCE inflation numbers will be a key data point for monetary policy setters. On an annualised basis, core PCE in July is expected to have risen from 2.8% to 2.9% compared to the Fed target of 2.0%. Markets are keeping a close eye on the impact of tariffs on the prices of goods and services. If inflation comes in hotter than expected, the path towards a drop in US borrowing costs in December will become a little less clear."
In corporate news, engineering and consulting business Wood Group said it has sold its transmission and distribution business in North America as it sheds non-core businesses ahead of its possible takeover by Sidara.
North America T&D, which provides power infrastructure engineering for substations, transmission, distribution and renewable generation across Canada and the US, is being sold to Qualus for $110m.
Ocean Wilsons has once again urged investors to back its £900m merger with Hansa after US investor Arnhold said it would vote against the deal, claiming it undervalued the UK maritime services and investment firm.
In a letter to investors, Ocean Wilsons said an independent committee appointed to look at the merger "believes that the combination is in the best interests of...shareholders".
Investment firm Pantheon International said that its net asset value had increased 3.7% in July to 510.4p per share.
The company's total net asset value now stands at £2.3bn, while its market capitalisation sits at £1.4bn. During July, Pantheon invested £7.0m in share buybacks, repurchasing 2.17m shares at a weighted average price of 321.1p per share - an average discount of 35.0% to the prevailing net asset value per share at the time of the transactions.
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