London pre-open: Stocks set for flat start

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a steady open on Friday following solid gains in the previous session.

The FTSE 100 was called to open flat at 8,241.

There are no UK data releases of note due but in the US, investors will eye the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment survey for September at 1500 BST.

Danske Bank said: "With underlying inflation moderating and short-term market-based inflation expectations declining with global oil prices it will be interesting to see if the reading reflects these trends. In August, 1-year and 5-year inflation expectations stood at 2.8% and 3.0%, respectively."

For the eurozone, meanwhile, industrial production data for July is due at 1000 BST. "This will be the first hard data point on production for Q3 and offers a hint of expected GDP growth," Danske Bank said.

In corporate news, Britain's competition regulator said the planned merger of mobile network operators Vodafone and Three may be expected to result in a "substantial" lessening of competition and higher prices for consumers.

The Competition and Markets Authority cited the supply of mobile telecommunications services to end customers and the supply of wholesale as two areas of concern.

China's health authority has granted GSK's Blenrep blood cancer treatment with a so-called 'Breakthrough Therapy Designation', which is designed to speed up development of investigational drugs.

The award was based on results from GSK's phase III DREAMM-7 phase III clinical trial which evaluated Blenrep combined with BorDex for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.