London pre-open: Stocks seen up on positive US, Asian sessions

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday following gains in the US and Asia, as investors mull the latest China inflation data. The FTSE 100 was called to open 12 points higher at 7,612.

Figures out earlier showed that China's consumer price inflation rose 0.2% on the year in May, up from 0.1% in April, and versus expectations of a 0.3% increase.

Meanwhile, producer price inflation fell 4.6% in May following a 3.6% decline in April and versus expectations of a 4.3% drop. This marked the sharpest fall in more than seven years.

Capital Economics said: "We still think a tightening labour market will put upward pressure on services inflation in the coming months. But the government's ceiling of "around 3.0%" for the headline rate is unlikely to be tested and we doubt inflation will become a barrier to increased policy support.

"Instead, the main constraint facing policymakers has to do with financial risks. We expect the PBOC to ease policy somewhat in the near-term but that, in order to limit the impact on bank margins, it will favour tools such as window guidance and RRR reductions instead of policy rate cuts."

In UK corporate news, CMC Markets said it has bought a 33% stake in StrikeX Technologies, a customer centric blockchain solutions business.

"This is a significant milestone for both companies and the digital asset industry, combining StrikeX's expertise in tokenisation and self-custody technologies with CMC Markets' extensive experience in financial services," it said.

"This arm's length investment presents CMC Markets with further opportunity for growth. The partnership will allow CMC Markets access to the latest blockchain related products and services with the opportunity to leverage these for our customers over the longer term."

CMC did not provide any financial details.