London pre-open: Stocks seen up as investors mull GDP data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Thursday following a positive close on Wall Street, as investors mulled the latest UK GDP figures. The FTSE 100 was called to open around 45 points higher.

Data released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that the economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter, down slightly on 0.7% growth in the first quarter but in line with expectations.

The figures also revealed that on a monthly basis, the economy showed no growth in June, as expected.

Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "The UK economy has now grown strongly for two quarters, following the weakness we saw in the second half of last year.

"Growth across the three months was led by the service sector, where scientific research, the IT industry and legal services all did well."

In corporate news, insurance group Admiral posted a 32% rise in half-year pre-tax profits to £310m, driven by an improved current year underwriting performance and continued significant prior period releases.

It also declared an interim dividend of 71p a share including a special payout of 19.7p a share, up 39%.

Woodside flagged production costs of $710m to $780m for its first half and an income tax expense of $100m to $200m, reflecting the first-time recognition of a net deferred tax asset for the Sangomar project.

The company, due to report on 27 August, said that recognition and other tax adjustments had significantly lowered its effective income tax rate for the six months compared to the prior year. It said the adjustments, however, would not affect its half-year tax payments.