London pre-open: Stocks to nudge up after solid US session

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to edge up at the open on Wednesday following a solid session on Wall Street as investors kept an eye on developments in the Middle East.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around five points higher.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Optimism about the fragile ceasefire holding between Iran and Israel has bubbled through markets, lifting equities, but more doubts are now creeping in about the truce holding.

"Wall Street rose in a relief wave, pushing the S&P 500 close to record highs. Sentiment has held up in Asia and European indices largely look set for a positive start to trading. Nevertheless, a little more uncertainty is seeping in.

"A leaked report from US Intelligence casting doubt on the effectiveness of the US strikes in crippling Tehran's nuclear capabilities, has led to some worries that military action could resume."

In corporate news, defence company Babcock said it expected to hit its underlying operating margin of 8% a year early as governments ramp up defence spending amid global political instability.

The company posted a sharp jump in annual operating profit to �364m from �241.6m a year earlier. Its contract backlog was up slightly to �10.4bn from �10.3bn.

Online retailer THG said that second-quarter trading has been "much improved" across both its beauty and nutrition units, with the overall group returning to constant currency revenue growth, underpinned by a strong June exit rate.

THG also noted that its direct exposure to tariffs was expected to be "less than �1.0m" before mitigating actions.

Distribution centre investor Tritax Big Box REIT (BBOX) said it has reached an agreement to take over smaller peer Warehouse REIT for �485m, outbidding an earlier proposal by Blackstone.

The offer gives Warehouse REIT shareholders 0.4236 new BBOX shares and 47.2p in cash, which equates to 110p per Warehouse REIT share.

Assuming the payment of two interim dividends, this implies a total value of 114.2p, a 38.6% premium to its share price before takeover speculation began and ahead of the 109p that Blackstone offered three weeks ago.