London pre-open: FTSE to open lower ahead of German data, UK GDP

24th Oct 2014 07:31

Reports of a new case of Ebola in the States, together with upcoming EU bank stress test results and German consumer confidence figures, are all set to provide a drag on UK markets at Friday's opening bell.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 20 points lower than Thursday's close of 6,419.15."The markets look set to end the week on a slightly more downbeat note, with European indices seen opening around half a percentage point lower, tracking moves in the US overnight where indices pulled back late in the session, apparently in response to reports of a new Ebola case in New York," said Alpari market analyst Craig Erlam.In his view, concerns about the spread of Ebola are not the cause of recent market moves, but rather offer an "excuse" for investors who are on edge."The fact of the matter is, only one person in the US has died from Ebola and therefore any genuine market panic attributed to it spreading is just nonsense in my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, the fact that we've retraced around two thirds of the move from September highs to last week's lows and run into technical resistance around the 100-day simple moving average in the S&P 500 better explains the profit taking."On the agenda in the UK will be the preliminary estimate of third-quarter UK gross domestic product (GDP) growth is due out at 09:30.GDP growth is expected to have slowed to an annual rate of 0.7% in the July-September period, from 0.9% growth in the second quarter, according to consensus forecasts.Across the Channel, the German Gfk consumer confidence reading is expected to fall to the lowest level since January.In company news, publishing and education group Pearson has revealed that its chief financial officer (CFO) is to step down after 10 years of service, as the Financial Times owner reiterated its profit guidance for the full year. Robin Freestone, who joined as deputy CFO in 2004 before becoming head CFO in 2006, is to leave the firm before the end of 2015 "to explore a range of other interests", Pearson said.Challenger bank TSB reported a 32% rise in third-quarter profits to £41m and said it was ahead of its target long term in attracting customers switching from other banks. Nearly one in 10 of all customers who opened new bank accounts or switched during the last quarter chose the bank, which was formerly part of Lloyds Banking Group.Pharmaceuticals group Hikma received a warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration overnight relating to its manufacturing facility in Portugal. The agency raised issues related to investigations and environmental monitoring at the facility. The warning is not expected to have an impact on the manufacture or distribution of products from that site nor the company's financial guidance for this year, Hikma said in a statement.Later on in the session, third-quarter numbers from pharmaceutical group Shire will no doubt be closely watched following the recent failed $54bn takeover by US rival Abbvie. Shire's share price, while still over 50% higher than where it was at the start of the year, has dropped sharply over the past week after Abbvie was forced to withdraw its recommendation of its offer in light of changes to US tax rules.