London pre-open: Stocks seen muted as investors mull China data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a muted open on Friday following downbeat US and Asian sessions, as investors mulled the latest Chinese data. The FTSE 100 was called to open two points lower at 7,642.

Stocks in the US fell on Thursday after data showed that consumer price inflation rose 3.7% on the year in September, in line with August and higher than expectations of 3.6% growth, putting a potential rate hike by the Federal Reserve back on the table.

On the month, prices rose 0.4% in September, down from a 0.6% increase in August but above consensus expectations for a 0.3% jump.

Uninspiring Chinese data was also set to sour the mood.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European markets look set to open lower on the back of this morning's weak Asia session and disappointing Chinese economic data."

He added: "The Chinese economy could certainly do with some help if today's September economic numbers are any guide.

"With the woes in its property sector far from resolved, and youth unemployment well above 20% there appears to be little sign that we'll see an economic pickup any time soon. Not only has domestic demand been weak, but global demand for Chinese goods has slowed sharply since April with declines in exports every month since then.

"This weakness has been reflected in price pressures in the Chinese economy with the economy slipping into deflation in July, although we have seen a modest uptick in headline CPI since then to 0%.

"This morning's CPI inflation numbers for September slipped back to 0% from 0.1%, while PPI came in at -2.5%, a modest uptick from -3%.

"On trade exports for September declined by 6.2%, a modest improvement from -8.8%, while imports declined 6.2%, again a modest improvement on the -7.3% seen in August."

In corporate news, St. James's Place responded to ongoing media speculation around its client fees and charge structures, as it considered a scalable charging platform under the Consumer Duty programme.

It said that, although the assessment was yet to be finalised and no decisions had been made, it was confident that the options under consideration would prioritise client value while ensuring a sustainable business model. It added that it was in continuous engagement with regulators.

Elsewhere, the Competition and Markets Authority said it has cleared Microsoft's proposed $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

In August, Microsoft made a concession that would see Ubisoft, instead of Microsoft, buy Activision's cloud gaming rights.

This new deal will put the cloud streaming rights - outside the EEA - for all of Activision's PC and console content produced over the next 15 years in the hands of "a strong and independent competitor with ambitious plans to offer new ways of accessing that content," the CMA said.

The watchdog said that Microsoft buying Activision without cloud gaming rights "would preserve competitive prices and better services".