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London pre-open: FTSE set for muted open after record highs
London stocks were set for a muted open on Tuesday after the FTSE 100 hit a record high the day before, with all eyes on the Treasury Select Committee testimonies.
The FTSE 100 was called to open unchanged at 7,859 after ending up 1% at 7,859.17 on Monday, which was a record closing high.
Public sector net borrowing is at 0930 BST, while the CBI industrial trends survey is at 1100 BST. Before that, the Treasury Select Committee testimonies are at 0915 BST.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "There won't be any surprises around Michael Saunders' view giving he voted to raise rates last month, and Mark Carney's view tends to change as often as the weather forecast, but Ramsden's views are likely to be key given that he suggested in a February interview that rates would have to rise more quickly given recent increases in wages. Against that backdrop it was a bit of a surprise that the Bank of England then proceeded to revise their assessment for wages lower for the rest of this year, so his views on why the central bank has become less bullish on wages are likely to be important, as are Vlieghe's.
"On the data front we will be getting the latest public finance numbers for April which are expected to come in at £7.2bn, while the latest CBI industrial trends survey for May is expected to show a slight moderation from April's 4 reading."
In corporate news, Balfour Beatty said trading was in line with its full year expectations in an update on Tuesday, ahead of its annual general meeting later in the week.
The FTSE 250 company said it continued to make "good progress" on the second phase of its 'Build to Last' transformation programme. and remained on track to achieve industry standard margins in the second half of 2018.
Halfords reported lower annual profits as the bike and car parts retailer was hit by the increased cost of goods due to the weak pound, with a similar result expected this year as selling prices remain flat.
However, with revenue up 3.7% to £1.14bn in the year to 31 March, underlying profit before tax down 5% £71.6m and earnings per share falling 2.3% to 29.6p, results were just ahead of City forecasts.
Rank Group has bought QSB, the owner of Spanish digital bingo business YoBingo.es, for up to 52m in cash.
The company said Spain is an attractive multi-channel market and that there is significant upside potential in combining Spanish retail and digital bingo and slot operations.
Chief executive John O'Reilly said: "The YoBingo Group is a well-established operation that we intend to further develop and to cross-sell into our established Spanish retail operations."