London pre-open: Stocks seen tough higher; UK manufacturing and production data eyed

9th Mar 2016 07:17

(ShareCast News) - London stocks are expected to open a little higher on Wednesday as investors shrug off negative sessions in the US and Asia.The FTSE 100 is seen starting 10 points higher than Tuesday's close at 6,135.On the data front, UK industrial production and manufacturing production figures for January are due at 0930 GMT. In the US, MBA mortgage applications are at 1200 GMT and wholesale inventories are at 1500 GMT."The manufacturing sector has borne the brunt of the global economic slowdown over the past few months and once again the UK economy is in the cross hairs today with the latest ONS manufacturing and industrial production data for January," said CMC Markets' Michael Hewson."December was an extremely disappointing month with sharp declines in both as 2015 came to a disappointing end. The expectation is for a rebound in January with a 0.4% rise in industrial production, and a 0.2% rise in manufacturing production. This would be in line with a similar improvement seen in the January PMI numbers, but could well prove only temporary given the sharp drop seen in the February PMI data."A record performance in motors and parts drove a year of growth at Lookers in 2015, with revenue rising 20% during the calendar year to £3.65bn.The FTSE 250 firm's operating profit increased 12% to £85.9m, with adjusted profit before tax up 11% to £72.1m. Earnings per share were up 7.1% to 12.88p, and adjusted earnings per share grew 12.7% to 15.24p.Lookers' board proposed a final dividend of 2.05p per share, taking the total annual dividend to 3.12p - an increase of 10% on 2014.The Restaurant Group served up a solid set of results for 2015, but has seen the challenging trading conditions continue from the end of last year into 2016. After 10 weeks trading in 2016 total sales are up by 6% but like-for-like sales are down by 1.5%.Diploma has acquired Cablecraft for a maximum net consideration of £26m.The FTSE 250 group, which supplies specialised technical products and services, said the deal would be immediately earnings enhancing and will be reported as part of the Controls Sector activities.Dunstable-based Cablecraft is a supplier of cable accessory products which are used to identify, connect, secure and protect electrical cables.