London pre-open: Stocks seen lower after weak US, Asian sessions

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall at the open on Wednesday following downbeat sessions in the US and Asia.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 10 points lower.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "After Tuesday's decline, the mood seems to have improved as we wait for the European session to open. European futures are pointing to a mildly lower open for European stocks, which managed to stage a mini recovery and pare losses at the end of the Tuesday session. In the US, future prices are also recovering.

"The fact that the Nikkei has sold off alongside US tech stocks, the IT sector was the weakest on the S&P 500 on Tuesday and fell 2.27%, suggests that this is a sell off focused on stretched valuations. A 2% decline in the US tech sector is not a rout, but it does suggest that the market is less complacent about valuations as we move into the final months of the year. This also means that any sell off comes with a buying opportunity, as investors wait to buy the dip.

"The weakest performers on the S&P 500 on Tuesday included Palantir, the big data firm with a 12-month forward price to earnings ratio of over 200 times, which fell more than 7%. This is a meaningful decline, and we will be looking for any dip buying as we move through Wednesday's session."

In UK corporate news, online rail ticketing platform Trainline lifted earning and sales targets after reporting a 14% jump in half-year profits.

The company, which sells tickets for journeys in the UK and Europe, said it now expects adjusted EBITDA growth of between 10% and 13%, up from original guidance of 6% to 9%. Net ticket sales are forecast to rise by 6% to 9%.

Profit for the six months to 31 August came in at �93m from �82m a year earlier.

Housebuilder Barratt Redrow called on the government to take action to support demand ahead of the Autumn Budget later this month, following a slight slowdown in trading momentum over the start of the new financial year.

The company remains on track to hit its home completions targets this year, but net private reservation rates have eased slightly since the start of July due to challenging conditions and increased uncertainty ahead of the Budget.

In an AGM statement, the housebuilder said it wants to see the government create a "positive, stable and predictable environment for institutional and private homebuyers, as well as homebuilders and our supply chain partners".

Engineering firm Weir Group reiterated its full-year guidance despite "elevated levels of uncertainty" related to critical metals disputes and further tariffs between the US and China.

Weir said its third-quarter performance reflected "positive activity" in its core mining markets, with total group orders, including contributions from its Micromine and Townley acquisitions, up 2% year-on-year.