London pre-open: Stocks seen up after US gains; consumer confidence drops

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday, taking their cue from a positive session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 hit a new high. The FTSE 100 was called to open around 15 points higher.

Investors will be mulling the latest consumer confidence survey from GfK, which showed a sharp fall as the new year got underway.

The GfK consumer confidence index for January came in at -22, a five-point drop on December and three points lower than January 2023.

Within that, expectations for personal finances in the coming year dropped back into negative territory, losing three points to -2.

Respondents were similarly gloomy about prospects for the wider economy, with the sub-index sliding eight points to -34.

Spending was also shelved in favour of saving. The major purchase index lost four points to -20 while the savings index jumped nine to 30.

Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at NIQ GfK, said: "New Year is traditionally a time for change, but looking at these figures, consumers don't think things are changing for the better.

"These figures underline that consumers are losing confidence in the UK's economic prospects."

He added that the sharp increase in saving intentions was "unwelcome, because it's another sign that people see dark days ahead and are therefore thinking of putting money aside for safety".

In corporate news, Burberry said the rate of sales eased significantly in the luxury fashion brand's third quarter as recent actions to turn the business around started to bear fruit.

Retail revenues were down just 7% year-on-year in the three months to 28 December at £659m, following a 22% sales slump in the first half.

Burberry said it was "encouraged by the response from customers and partners over the festive period", which the company attributed to the 'Burberry Forward' brand reset initiated in November.

"In light of our Q3 performance, it is now more likely our second-half results will broadly offset the first-half adjusted operating loss, notwithstanding the uncertain macroeconomic environment," it said.

Elsewhere, Rolls-Royce said it has signed the biggest UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract in its history.

The Unity contract, which is worth around £9bn, stretches over eight years and brings together all elements of research and technology, design, manufacture and in-service support of the nuclear reactors that power the Royal Navy's fleet of submarines.

The contract is between Rolls-Royce Submarines and the UK MoD and forms "a single, harmonious capability portfolio," it said.