London pre-open: Stocks to fall on weak US, Asian cues

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to edge down at the open on Wednesday, taking their cue from negative sessions in the US and Asia, as investors eye the Jackson Hole symposium. The FTSE 100 was called to open 10 points lower at 7,478.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "With European markets finishing lower, US markets also struggled to make headway, closing lower for the third day in succession.

"Markets in Asia also came under pressure as more covid lockdowns in China, this time in a city just outside Beijing reinforced the feeling that there was unlikely to be any recovery in China this side of next year. Consequently, today's European open looks set to be a negative one."

He added: "Today looks set to be a quiet day economic data wise with US durable goods orders and pending home sales for July, as we look ahead to the start of tomorrow's Jackson Hole Symposium."

Corporate news was thin on the ground as the summer lull finally kicked in.

Flexible workspace provider IWG said it has appointed Charlie Steel as chief financial officer, succeeding Glyn Hughes.

Steel will join the board before the end of the year. Meanwhile, Hughes will remain with the business for a transitional period to ensure a smooth handover.

Steel joins IWG from Babylon Holdings, a digital health delivery and AI diagnosis business. IWG said that as CFO at Babylon, he was heavily involved in the formulation and execution of strategy and played a leading role in the build-out of teams, systems, processes and new geographies at the company.