London pre-open: Stocks seen higher ahead of Jackson Hole

(Sharecast News) - London stocks looked set to rise at the open on Friday following a positive session in Asia, as investors eyed the Jackson Hole symposium.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 27 points higher at 7,155.

CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "We will hear from Jerome Powell, the head of the Fed at 3pm (UK time) at the Jackson Hole Symposium, and the update will give us an insight into what the Fed might do come September.

"Judging by the minutes from the July meeting the central bank seems content to sit on their hands, but it is worth remembering the US-China trade situation has intensified ,and so has the unrest in Hong Kong ,and that might prompt Mr Powell to be a touch more dovish than he was in late July.

"The markets have been pricing in lower rates from the Fed, but keep in mind, it is the policymakers who call the shots, and it is worth noting that unemployment in very low, earnings are solid, and retail are strong, and the economic climate is not calling for a rate cut."

On the UK data front, BBA mortgage approvals are due at 0930 BST.

In corporate news, Peppa Pig's owner Entertainment One has agreed to be bought by Hasbro in an all-cash deal valuing the UK company at £3.3bn. The US toymaker will pay £5.60 for each eOne share - 31% more than eOne's average share price over the past 30 days.

Computacenter said it expected full year profit growth would be "the best in the company's history" as it reported a 2.7% rise in adjusted interim pre-tax profits to £53.5m.

Group revenues grew 20.8% or £418.1m during the first half of the year. Excluding the impact of acquisitions, Computacentre was ahead year on year, "which presented a challenging comparison with the prior period", on an adjusted profit before tax basis, the company said.

GlaxoSmithKline announced positive headline results from the pivotal 'DREAMM-2' open-label, randomised study of two doses of 'belantamab mafodotin.

The FTSE 250 pharmaceuticals group said the 196 patients in the trial had relapsed multiple myeloma, were refractory to an immunomodulatory drug, a proteasome inhibitor, and to treatment with an anti-CD38 antibody. It said the two-arm study met its primary objective, and demonstrated a clinically meaningful overall response rate with belantamab mafodotin in the patient population.