London pre-open: Stocks seen flat as investors mull FOMC minutes; oil prices rise

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a steady open on Thursday as investors mulled the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve and as oil prices crept up again.

The FTSE 100 was called to open flat at 10,458.50.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "The latest FOMC minutes struck a hawkish tone yesterday. All officials backed the decision to hike rates, and most judged that another rate hike would likely be appropriate before year-end. Several believed that rates were still doing little to restrain the economy, while strong demand and persistent inflation justified further tightening.

"As expected, the message is that September's hike may not be the last, but the latest PCE inflation and jobs data help soften that message, buying time before the Federal Reserve's (Fed) next move."

At 0720 BST, Brent crude was up 2.7% at $102.90 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 2.4% higher at $90.43 after Axios reported that the Pentagon instructed US Central Command several days ago to conclude preparations for resuming major combat operations in Iran.

According to Axios, the directive didn't include a specific date for launching strikes, and Trump hasn't made any final decisions. However, US and Israeli sources said it could happen before the US midterm elections and possibly the Israeli elections a week earlier.

In corporate news, supermarket chain Tesco lifted annual guidance and its share buyback programme after interim profits jumped 6.5% to £1.78bn.

The company now expects adjusted operating profit of between £3.15bn and £3.30bn, compared with the £3.0bn to £3.3bn range outlined in April. It also increased its share buyback to £950m from £750m.

Imperial Brands said it remained on track to meet fullyear FY26 guidance across all key metrics and lifted shareholder returns with a fresh £1.5bn buyback for FY27, following the completion of its £1.45bn repurchase for the current year.

The group flagged a sixth straight year of tobacco netrevenue growth, supported by robust pricing and share gains in its priority markets, including the US and Germany.