London pre-open: Stocks seen down ahead of US bank earnings

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to edge down at the open on Friday as investors eyed earnings across the pond from JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. The FTSE 100 was called to open 12 points lower at 7,428.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Today's only economic numbers of note are US import and export prices for June, which are expected to reinforce the deflationary narrative of this week's data, with both month on month and annual numbers all expected to come in negative for the second month in succession.

"We'll also be getting the latest University of Michigan sentiment numbers for July, which have up until recently been market movers when it comes to forward inflation expectations. After this week's CPI and PPI numbers they probably won't get the same level of attention.

"On the earnings front the focus will be on the release of the Q2 numbers for JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, and their respective views of the health of the US consumer, and how much they set plan to aside in additional provisions. Their guidance on how they see the US economy in Q3 is also likely to be crucial."

In corporate news, broadcaster ITV said it was no longer looking at buying TV and film production business All3Media, owned by Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global.

The company said it was "still monitoring" the situation.

"ITV assesses all potential value-creating merger and acquisition opportunities against its strict financial criteria and disciplined capital allocation framework," it added in a short statement.

Last month ITV, in which Liberty also has a 10% stake, said it was "actively exploring" a potential purchase of the maker of 'Fleabag' and 'Gogglebox' and estimated to be worth as much as £1bn.

Liontrust Asset Management reported net outflows and a decrease in assets under management and advice in an update, as well as recent developments related to the proposed acquisition of GAM Holding.

The FTSE 250 investment manager said that during the three months ended 30 June, it experienced net outflows of £1.6bn.

It said the outflow contributed to a decline in assets under management and advice, which stood at £29.5bn as of 30 June, reflecting a 6% decrease over the period.