London pre-open: Stocks seen up as investors eye US GDP

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Thursday after markets on Wall Street ended off their lows, as investors eye the latest US GDP data. The FTSE 100 was called to open 19 points higher at 7,764.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "As a result of yesterday's rebound in US markets, European markets look set to open higher this morning as we look ahead to today's US Q4 GDP.

"Having started the first half of last year with two successive quarters of negative GDP growth, the US economy saw a return to positive GDP growth in Q3, of 3.2%, after a late upgrade from, 2.9% at the end of last year, with personal consumption coming in at 2.3%, a decent improvement on the 2% seen in Q2, and a significant improvement on the first iteration which only came in at 1.4%.

"The upward revision higher came about as a result of a rebound in consumer spending, as well as higher government spending.

"As we look towards today's first iteration of Q4 GDP is seems quite likely that we'll see a slowdown from the strong performance in Q3. Expectations are for a modest slide to 2.5%, although with signs in recent months that consumer spending is slowing you might think that there could be considerable downside risks to that estimate. Despite these concerns the estimates for personal consumption are for an increase from 2.3% to 2.8%. Quarterly core PCE is expected to fall sharply to 3.9% from 4.7%."

In corporate news, Hungary-based budget airline Wizz Air narrowed losses in the third quarter on the back of fare increases and higher booking volumes.

The carrier posted a core loss of €2.8m for the three months to December 31, compared with a loss of €87.5m a year earlier. Wizz still expects a loss for the full year but held guidance for a return to profits in 2024.

Revenue for the period soared 132% to €911m.

Elsewhere, drinks company Britvic hailed a "robust" start to the year as it said trading has been in line with management expectations.

The group said first-quarter group revenue rose 7.3% to £411m on a constant currency basis versus a year earlier. It pointed to "strong" Christmas trading, with revenue up 9% in December, led by GB.