London pre-open: Stocks to retreat after previous day's surge

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks are expected to pull back slightly on Friday after hitting a two-and-a-half-week high the previous session. Futures on the FTSE 100 were pointing to a 0.2% loss in pre-market trading after the index jumped 1.1% to 8,260.09 on Thursday - its highest close since 16 December. The benchmark has gained in five of the past six trading sessions, rising a total of 2.2%.

On the docket for Friday's session are a number of important economic indicators worldwide, with few blue-chip corporate announcements expected. In focus will be unemployment statistics in Germany, lending and consumer credit figures in the UK and the ISM manufacturing index in the US.

Oil prices were flat early on, with Brent crude at around $75.90 a barrel, having surged nearly 2% the previous day to its highest mark since mid-October.

In corporate news, budget airline Wizz Air on Friday reported a 1.9% increase in passenger numbers for December on an annual basis, but capacity declined as it continued to ground aircraft due to problems with Pratt & Whitney engines. The company carried 5.06m passengers last month. Seat capacity was down 3.1% year-on-year with a load factor of 86.5%, up 4.3 percentage points.

Wizz added that early indications for the fourth quarter to March 2025 remained positive, with bookings currently running ahead by more than 2 percentage points against this time last year.