London stocks were set to kick off the new month in the black on Tuesday, following a positive session on Wall Street and ahead of a slew of UK data releases.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 36 points higher at 7,500.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “As we look towards today’s European open, we look set to start February on the front foot after yesterday’s strong US finish, with the focus on the latest manufacturing PMIs, as well as some key UK lending data.
“One of the more notable items to take from yesterday’s Q4 GDP data was how well the Italian and Spanish economies did, outperforming both France and Germany. This is expected to continue in this morning’s latest manufacturing PMI data for January. Italy manufacturing PMI is expected to come in at 61.2, slightly down from 62, while Spain manufacturing PMI is expected to come in at 56.
“No changes are expected in the France and Germany flash readings of 55.5 and 60.5.
“The latest UK data for December is expected to show a sharp slowdown in the wake of the Plan B restrictions imposed midway through the month.
“Consumer credit is expected to slow to £0.4bn from the big jump seen to £1.2bn in November, as people ordered early for Christmas, and then reined back their spending, as well as staying in to safeguard their Christmas get-togethers. Mortgage approvals and lending are expected to remain steady at 66k and £3.5bn.
“Manufacturing PMI is expected to be confirmed at 56.9, a modest slowdown from 57.9 in November.”
Net lending, consumer credit and Markit’s manufacturing PMI are all due at 0930 GMT.
In corporate news, lender Virgin Money lifted guidance for its net interest margin – the difference between borrowing and savings rates – as the economy recovered from the Covid pandemic and inflation pushed up the cost of loans.
The bank guided for a NIM of around 175 basis points for 2022, with growth in higher-yielding lending offset by mortgage competition and normalisation of the savings market over the remainder of the year
.3i Infrastructure said income in the third quarter was as expected and it was on track to pay its target annual dividend.
Income and non-income cash was £26min the three months to the end of December compared with £24m a year earlier. The 2022 dividend is on track to rise 6.6% to 10.45p a share, the FTSE 250 company said
