London pre-open: UK markets to fall after US blue chip earnings disappoint

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks were expected to fall in early deals on Wednesday after a wave of corporate earnings from Wall Street heavyweights disappointed overnight. Meanwhile, investors were choosing to tread carefully ahead of a barrage of economic data from across the globe later in the session.

Pre-market trading is showing the FTSE 100 trading around 0.4% lower than Tuesday's close of 8,167.37.

In after-hours trade in the US, Tesla shares fell sharply after the electric carmaker said net profits fell 45% in the second quarter, while Google parent Alphabet disappointed with slowing ad sales growth. In other news, Visa, UPS and GM also underwhelmed investors with their latest numbers.

"As such, two of the Magnificent 7 stocks failed to create euphoria when they reported their Q2 results yesterday. The less-than-ideal set of earnings comes at a time when investors are questioning whether the AI rally has gotten ahead of itself," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

After a relatively quiet economic calendar so far this week, the schedule picks up on Wednesday with a host of purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) due from across France, Germany, the wider Eurozone, the UK and the US - most of which are expected to show that economic activity picked up slightly in July.

In company news, easyJet's third-quarter profit before tax increased £33m year-on-year, driven by an 8% rise in passenger numbers and a 1% rise in revenue per seat. The FTSE 100 low-cost carrier said easyJet holidays saw a significant growth in profit before tax by 49% to £73m, with a 33% increase in passenger numbers. It maintained a positive outlook for the 2024 financial year, expecting continued growth in revenue per seat and profit from easyJet holidays, alongside a stable cost environment.

Publishing and exhibitions group Informa said it was buying rival Ascential in an agreed £1.2bn deal. Ascential shareholders have been offered 568p a share in cash, a premium of around 53% to the closing price of 371p on July 22.