London pre-open: Stocks seen up after positive Asian session

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a firmer open on Thursday following a positive session in Asia and well-received results from US AI chipmaker Nvidia, with results from Lloyds, Rolls-Royce and WPP in focus on home shores. The FTSE 100 was called to open around 45 points higher.

Sentiment was set to be boosted after Japan's Nikkei beat its previous record reached in 1989, closing at 39,098.68, underpinned by strong earnings and tech optimism.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The Nikkei has re-found its mojo but it's been a long time coming. The Japanese stock market peaked in December 1989, and in the years since the Nikkei has been unable to break higher. But the recent red-hot rally in Japanese stocks has helped the index finally beat the previous record set 34 years ago.

"The Nikkei has been buoyed by another wave of excitement for the prospects for the tech sector, coming off the back of Japanese companies logging record quarterly profits. The weaker yen has helped exporters like Toyota, Honda and Sony, with strong demand for vehicles, machinery and computer chips from around the world."

As far as Nvidia is concerned, Derren Nathan, head of equity research at HL, said the company "is cementing quite a reputation for setting exceptional growth targets and then beating them".

"Fourth quarter revenues reported after yesterday's close saw revenues more that treble to $22.1bn. Underlying earnings per share leap nearly six-fold to $5.16 with both metrics sailing past consensus forecasts," he said.

"Nvidia's managing to deliver a staggering performance without overly extending the cost-base, testament to its design-led asset-light business model. Sales guidance for the current quarter of about $24bn has also eclipsed the street's expectations of $21.9bn. That's reassured the market with the shares up 9% in after-hours trading more than compensating for the jitters seen earlier in the week."

In UK corporate news, Lloyds Bank reported a 57% jump in full-year profits on the back of higher interest rates and announced another £2bn share buyback.

Pre-tax earnings at the lender for the year to December 31 were £7.5bn, although profits in the fourth quarter slipped 4% due to mortgage pricing and deposit mix headwinds. Net income rose 3% to £17.9bn.

It also set aside £450m for the recently-announced review into motor finance.

Coca-Cola HBC, the Switzerland-based bottling partner of the Coca-Cola Company, has announced it is snapping up an Irish vending-machine business to "unlock profitable opportunities".

The group said its Northern Ireland subsidiary has acquired 100% of BDS Vending Solutions, an established food and drink vending services business with around 2,000 vending machines, for an undisclosed sum.