London pre-open: Stocks seen down ahead of Fed speeches, Bailey

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a weaker open on Tuesday following a mixed session on Wall Street and ahead of several speeches by Federal Reserve officials. The FTSE 100 was called to open around 20 points lower.

Danske Bank said: "Today, we look out for several Fed speakers as Williams, Barkin, Barr, Bostic and Waller are all speaking."

In the UK, meanwhile, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey is due to give a speech at 1800 BST.

Investors will also be looking ahead to Wednesday's inflation data in the UK.

In corporate news, home improvement retailer Kingfisher said that first-quarter like-for-like sales were down on last year on the back of weakness in France, but full-year expectations were unchanged.

The company, which owns B&Q and Screwfix in the UK, along with European chains Castorama, Brico Dépôt, TradePoint and Koçtaş, reported a 0.9% decline in LFL sales, with growth in the UK and Ireland, Poland, Iberia and Romania offset by a 5.3% drop in France, which it said was "broadly in line with [a] weaker market".

GSK announced positive results from trials of depemokimab, showing significant reductions in asthma exacerbations over 52 weeks compared to placebo.

The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said depemokimab could become the first approved ultra-long-acting biologic for severe asthma with a six-month dosing schedule, potentially simplifying treatment for millions of patients.

It said the trials demonstrated that the safety profile of depemokimab was comparable to placebo, with further analysis ongoing.

Results were also out from SSP, Assura and Pennon, among others.