London pre-open: Stocks seen down on Middle East woes

(Sharecast News) - London stocks looked set for further losses on Thursday following downbeat sessions in the US and Asia as tensions in the Middle East continued to dent sentiment. The FTSE 100 was called to open 26 points lower at 7,562.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European markets fell back yesterday as the political temperature in the Middle East ratcheted up further in the wake of the hospital bombing in Gaza.

"Even with evidence emerging that Israel probably wasn't responsible for the blast, the reality is that the truth of who was to blame no longer matters with the fog of war only serving to reinforce people's already entrenched positions.

"In the absence of a positive catalyst in the coming days there is a risk we could start to see further weakness if tensions escalate further. For the here and now European markets look set to open slightly lower, with Asia markets also trading sharply lower this morning."

In corporate news, homeware retailer Dunelm posted a 9% jump in first-quarter sales to £390m.

This was largely driven by volume, it said, noting that both stores and digital channels performed well.

Chief executive Nick Wilkinson said: "Our proposition, which offers an increasingly wide range of homewares products, continues to prove popular with customers, as we delivered another strong sales performance in Q1."

Deliveroo backed its full-year guidance as it posted a 5% increase in third-quarter gross transaction value (GTV).

The company pointed to continued GTV growth momentum in the UK and Ireland and an improvement in the international business.

Spire Healthcare said it had bought Vita, a market-leading provider of mental and physical health services in the UK, for around .£74m in cash.

Vita provides a range of NHS outpatient mental health talking therapies, musculoskeletal and dermatology services, with operational hubs in London and four regional centres in Bristol, Orpington, Oldham and Leicestershire