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(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall at the open on Thursday following an uninspiring session on Wall Street, as investors eyed the latest UK manufacturing PMI.
The FTSE 100 was called to open around 40 points lower.
Investors were likely to continue mulling Wednesday's softer-than-expected US PCE reading. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said that while inflation remains above the Federal Reserve's 2% target and still requires attention, the data has helped to cool Fed rate hike expectations.
"The US 2-year yield, which best captures Fed rate expectations, fell - although the easing remained short-lived," she said. "Today, we can say that at least it didn't push any higher. Again, yesterday's softer-than-expected PCE reading doesn't mean that the Fed won't hike, but the urgency has eased somewhat."
On home shores, figures from Nationwide showed that house price growth slowed sharply in September, as economic and geopolitical tensions mounted.
According to the latest house price index, annual growth halved to 0.8% from 1.6% in August. The market had expected a far more modest slowdown, to 1.3%.
Month-on-month, house prices declined 0.2%, compared to a 0.2% uptick in August. Nationwide said the slowdown in part reflected "uncertain economic backdrop", with ongoing geopolitical tensions and concerns about potential interest rate rises.
Looking to the rest of the day, the S&P Global UK manufacturing purchasing managers' index for September is due at 0930 BST.
In corporate news, auto distributor Inchcape said it had agreed to buy a Volvo business in Peru and Costa Rica, and a Jaguar Land Rover business in Peru, both from Automotores Gildemeister, for an undisclosed sum.
The businesses being acquired generated revenue of £48.7m in FY2025 and will include three aligned retail locations in Peru and two in Costa Rica.
Electricity provider SSE said it expects halfyear adjusted earnings per share to come to around 64p to 68p, flagging a lower level of seasonality as regulated networks made up a growing share of profits.
SSE also reaffirmed adjusted earnings per share guidance of 168p to 193p for 2026/27 and 225p to 250p for 2029/30, noting that expectations remained subject to weather, market conditions and plant availability through the key winter months.