London pre-open: UK stocks expected to slip ahead of central-bank meetings

6th Nov 2014 07:54

The UK stock market was expected to open in the red on Thursday morning as investors tread cautiously ahead of policy decisions by the Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB).City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 17 points lower after rising 1.3% to 6,539.14 on Wednesday.The BoE is widely expected to keep interest rates at their record-low level of 0.5% when they announce their policy decision at midday. Recent economic data has generally indicated that UK economic growth may have cooled off in the fourth quarter."Hence, a rate hike in the UK does not appear to be just around the corner," said analysts at Danske Bank. Markets will be awaiting next week's Inflation Report from the BoE where the central bank is expected to provide new projections.Meanwhile, the ECB is also predicted to keep policy unchanged though the afternoon press conference with president Mario Draghi will, as is typically the case, be very closely watched, given the recent slowdown in growth and falling inflation expectations."Hence, Draghi is expected to continue to sound very dovish and to do little to quell the increasing market expectations that quantitative easing could become reality during 2015," Danske Bank said.Some important economic data is also on tap for Thursday's session, including UK industrial production figures and US jobless claims.In company news, Randgold Resources said it experienced a "robust" third-quarter performance and is confident of delivering a record year with quarterly gold output at all-time highs and costs being well contained. Production totaled 299,320 ounces in the third quarter, up 8% on the preceding three-month period, meaning that output for the first nine months of 2014 was 37% ahead of last year.Supermarket chain Wm Morrison's saw like-for-like sales slip 6.3% in the third quarter but said its new Match & More loyalty card was proving "extremely popular" with customers. The FTSE 100 group also narrowed its guidance for underlying profit before tax for the full year to a range between £335m and £365m, from the previous £325m-£375m.RSA Insurance reported strong third-quarter profits due to gains on selling non-core businesses and said its overhaul was making progress. But the group led by former RBS boss Stephen Hester said its underwriting result in the quarter was weak overall and posted a 9% fall in premiums.