London pre-open: Sell-off expected as crude prices fall, World Bank cuts forecasts

14th Jan 2015 07:53

A continued slump in oil prices and concerns about global growth are expected to weigh heavily on UK stock markets on Wednesday.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 70 points lower than Tuesday's close of 6,542.20.Brent crude was down a further 1.7% at $45.80 a barrel ahead of US government data which is expected to show that oil stockpiles in the Stateside increased last week.Meanwhile, officials in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait were cited as saying that prices will only recover when demand improves later this year with a global supply glut expected to persist into the second half.Also weighing on sentiment were comments from the World Bank which slashed its growth forecasts for the global economy for this year and the next.Stocks to watchBurberry said it delivered a "strong" performance in its third quarter with reported growth rates accelerating, but highlighted a slowdown in the high-margin market of Hong Kong. The high-end luxury fashion group said retail revenues totalled £604m in the three months to 31 December, up 14% on last year compared with just 8% growth in the first half due to an improvement in foreign exchange rates. Underlying growth held steady at 15%.Following updates from several housebuilders since the start of the year, Barratt Developments followed suit and reported a strong performance in the six months to the end of December, saying it was on track for another "significant improvement" in its financial performance for the full year. The FTSE 250 housebuilder, which said the 90 new sites it was poised to open would give it the highest average number of developments for six years, stepped up the total number of completions 12.5% to 6,971 and its total average selling price rose 8.4% to £229,000 per house.After a tortuous year, Supergroup finished strongly under new chief executive Euan Sutherland with a Christmas trading period that underpinned its full year profit guidance. Like-for-like sales grew by 12.4% in the 11 weeks to 10 January, although against softer comparatives than the first half, and total retail sales increased by 17.8%.