ftse 100 seen opening higher as traders wade through earnings 0642 gmt  the ftse 100 is expected to open about 49 points higher according to spreadbetting firm ig as traders sift through another deluge of corporate earnings today is another one of those days where traders are going to pay more attention to earnings than any other economic headwinds avatrade analyst naeem aslam says in a note us weekly jobless claims data are due at 1230 gmt but that isnt a focal point for investors he says consumer goods company unilever medical equipment group smith  nephew premier inn hotels owner whitbread and lenders standard chartered and barclays are among the ftse 100 listed companies with updates thursday renaedyerwsjcom st jamess place plc on thursday said that its funds under management declined during the first quarter reflecting negative investment returns jefferies international ltd said thursday that it has now sold bp plcs entire shareholding in serica energy plc for 493 million pounds 618 million as flagged late wednesday ds smith sees trading in line with views to book gbp30 mln ukraine impairment ds smith plc said thursday that trading has been in line with management expectations during the second half and that it will book a 30 million pound 376 million impairment relating to its business in ukraine weir to wind down russian business book writeoff in 2022 weir group plc said thursday that it has decided to wind down its russian business in 2022 due to the invasion of ukraine which could result in an exceptional writeoff during the year barclays plc reported on thursday a decline in pretax profit for the first quarter of 2022 which still came in ahead of market expectations and said that it was keeping its capital and return on equity ratios for the year as a whole unchanged despite booking higher impairments j sainsbury plc reported thursday a swing to a pretax profit for fiscal 2022 beating market expectations but said it expects to suffer a significant hit to underlying pretax profit this year due to external pressures and uncertainties unilever plc said thursday that firstquarter turnover and sales rose above market expectations despite higher input costs which it expects to normalize in 2023 and 2024 smith  nephew plc said thursday that revenue in the first quarter rose 33 on a reported basis and backed its guidance for the year howden joinery performed well during first 16 weeks of yr uk revenue rose 22 howden joinery group plc on thursday that it performed well during the first 16 weeks of the year with uk revenue up 22 whitbread plc said thursday that it swung to a pretax profit in fiscal 2022 on higher revenue beating consensus but that it expects to report a pretax loss for fiscal 2023 for its german operations inchcape plc said thursday that firstquarter revenue rose 13 on an organic basis as demand is ahead of supply and that it has agreed to the sale of its russian business hays launches sharebuyback program of up to gbp75 mln hays plc said thursday that it plans to buy back up to 75 million pounds 941 million of its shares as part of its commitment to return excess cash to shareholders 0627 gmt  standard chartereds firstquarter earnings were very strong and will lead to an upgrade to fullyear consensus for its cet1 ratio and pretax profit jefferies says in a research note the asiafocused lenders increased net interest margin due to a record result in financial markets and interest rates offset headwinds faced by its wealth division jefferies says the bank says its revenuecost guide imply a midsingledigit upgrade to fullyear pretax profit consensus while the banks cet 1 ratio is seen around 60 basis points higher than the street in our view revenue and the cet1 ratio were the controversies coming into the print it says jefferies has a buy recommendation and target price of 972 pence a share on the stock sabelaojeawsjcom sabelaojeaguix