London pre-open: UK stocks to extend record highs early on

16th Apr 2015 07:55

UK stocks are expected to edge higher in early trading on Thursday despite setting another record the previous session.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open five points higher than Wednesday's all-time closing high of 7,096.78. The index also set a record intraday high of 7,111.72 during Wednesday's session.A raft of economic data from the States will be in focus on Thursday, including building permits, housing starts, jobless claims and the Philly Fed index.Federal Reserve officials Dennis Lockhart and Stanley Fisher, both of whom are voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, are both due to speak later on.Stocks to watchOrganic sales from Diageo fell 0.7% in the third quarter, a much worse result than the small increase analysts had expected, as the drinks group blamed currency headwinds in Latin America and tough comparatives in the UK.Unilever has enjoyed a strong start to 2015 with underlying sales for the first quarter ahead of analyst estimates as the consumer goods colossus said it had started to see "more tailwinds than headwinds" in its markets. Turnover increased 12.3% to €12.8bn, helped by 10.6% favourable currency move and underlying sales growth of 2.8% versus a consensus forecast of 2.1%.Miller Lite and Grolsch maker SABMiller delivered a strong finish to its financial year as strong growth in Africa and Latin America helped to accelerate top-line momentum in the fourth quarter. The world's second-largest brewer said Asia Pacific also returned to growth during the three months to 31 March as lager volumes in China pushed into positive territory. Fourth-quarter net producer revenues increased by 6%, after a 4% rise in the third quarter.