London pre-open: Stocks seen down as investors mull GDP

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall at the open on Monday following a weak session on Wall Street at the end of last week, as investors look ahead to a week filled with key central bank announcements. The FTSE 100 was called to open 19 points lower at 7,457.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European markets posted their first significant weekly loss since October, as did markets in the US, with the Dow similarly posting its worst week since September, as concerns over a slowing economy and the future pace of interest rates rises weighed on sentiment.

"This late Friday slide in the US looks set to weigh on today's European open."

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the focus will remain on inflation, Hewson said, not just in the US, but also in the UK, "as we gear up for the final rate decisions of the year from the Federal Reserve, and the Bank of England, as well as the European Central Bank thrown in for good measure".

On home shores, figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed the economy grew 0.5% in October following a 0.6% contraction in September, coming in a touch ahead of economists' expectations for 0.4% growth.

In the three months to October, meanwhile, the economy shrank by 0.3%, versus expectations of a 0.4% contraction.

In corporate news, it emerged that Microsoft has agreed to buy a 4% stake in London Stock Exchange Group as part of 10-year strategic partnership for next-generation data and analytics and cloud infrastructure solutions.

Elsewhere, Warehouse REIT, the specialist urban and 'last-mile' industrial warehouse investor, has completed four long-term lettings totalling 121,400 sq ft, increasing portfolio occupancy to 93.3% from 92.7% as at September 30.