London pre-open: Stocks seen up on strong US cues

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday following strong gains on Wall Street. The FTSE 100 was called to open 27 points higher at 7,858.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European markets just about managed to eke out a gain yesterday, although the FTSE 100 slipped back largely due to weakness in the energy sector.

"US markets underwent a much stronger session with strong gains across the board led by the Nasdaq 100, with most of the strength coming from Big Tech as earnings have by and large come in above expectations.

"This strong session in the US is expected to see European markets open higher later this morning.

"Amazon followed in the footsteps of a strong performance from Meta Platforms with a similarly strong set of Q1 numbers after US markets had closed last night, with outperformance across all its key business areas."

In UK corporate news, NatWest held guidance as it reported surging first-quarter profit driven by higher interest rates.

The lender posted operating profit before tax of £1.8bn for the three months to March, compared with £1.2bn a year earlier.

Net interest margin - the difference between interest rates on loans and savings - increased to 3.27% from 2.45%.

Elsewhere, Deutsche Bank said it had agreed to buy UK broker Numis in a £410m deal.

Under the terms of the transaction, DB will pay 350p per share in cash.

Fabrizio Campelli, head of corporate bank and investment bank at Deutsche Bank, said: "We have been evaluating how to accelerate the growth of our business in the UK and, as a leading UK franchise with a long history of successfully delivering superior client service and growth, Numis represents a compelling strategic fit.

"The combination enables us to realise greater revenue opportunities across our shared client base and to deepen our engagement with UK corporates. There is strong and complementary cultural alignment between Deutsche Bank and Numis that will propel the combined business to deliver exceptional client service, and we look forward to welcoming Numis management and employees to the Deutsche Bank Group."