London pre-open: Ukraine crisis to send UK stocks lower early on

Heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine, a late sell-off on Wall Street and a surprise drop in German factory orders are expected to feed into a lower open for UK markets on Wednesday.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 40 points lower than Tuesday's close of 6,682.48.After a quiet start, US stocks pushed firmly into the red by the close on Tuesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average registering triple-digit losses as geopolitical concerns in Ukraine escalated further.Even though economic data came in better than analysts' forecasts, the Dow finished down 139.81 points, or 0.84%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.71% and the S&P 500 sank 0.97%.Reports that Russian troops were gathering on the eastern border of Ukraine sparked a sell-off in afternoon trade on Wall Street, with investors scaling back their appetite for risk on concerns over a possible invasion.Meanwhile, markets were reacting to reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered retaliatory measures against Western sanctions. In other news, German factors orders unexpectedly dropped by 3.2% in June, after a revised 1.6% slump in May. Analysts had expected a 0.9% rebound.Other economic data will be closely watched today, including industrial production figures in the UK and the US trade balance.Stocks to watchAccounting software group Sage appointed former Micro Focus boss Stephen Kelly as successor to longstanding chief executive Guy Berruyer. Kelly, who has most recently been head of efficiency and reform for the UK government, will take up the role from 5 November. He said it was "a great time to be joining Sage".Record annuity sales of £3.5bn in the first six months of the year drove a 9% rise in profits after tax at insurance group Legal & General to 8.51p per share. As a result, the group in turn increased its interim dividend by 21% to 2.9p. Assets under management at its investment management arm grew 7% to £465.1bn. The company's return on equity reached 17.6%. Budget carrier Easyjet said that passenger numbers in July were 7.7% higher than last year. The no-refund airline said on Wednesday that the passengers - represented by the number of earned seats flown regardless of whether the customer shows up for the flight - totalled 6.43m last month, up from 5.89m a year earlier.BC