AA and Tate & Lyle hit their marks

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to erase the gains from the start of the week with a 32-point decline on Tuesday morning.

Stocks to watch

Tate & Lyle said that trading performance for the fourth quarter to 31 March 2016 was in line with both expectations and the outlook included in its February trading statement. The group will announce its full year results on 26 May. In February, Tate said third quarter trading in its specialty food ingredients division was steady, with volumes ahead of the same period a year earlier.

The AA reported results in line with expectations, though overall revenue from the motoring services group reversed 0.4% and operating profits by 3.3% in the 12 months to 31 January. That decline was put down to expected reductions in insurance services, driving services and the Ireland division, while roadside assistance revenue rose 1.8% to £724m.

Electrocomponents said it expected full year profits to hit the top end of market expectations, following a solid fourth quarter in which the UK recovery gained pace. Encouragingly, previous declines in North America eased off and continental Europe remained on the charge to enable 2% growth in group fourth quarter sales and 3% for the full year.

Newspaper round-up

Jitters over the health of the Chinese economy could trigger a bloodbath on financial markets if a hard landing materialises, the International Monetary Fund has warned. The IMF said policy choices in the world's second largest economy would also have "increasing implications for global financial stability" in the coming years as the country opens up its bond and equity markets. - Telegraph

City banks have suffered their worst start to a year since the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis as investors and companies worldwide shun markets and as the cost of regulation bites deeper into industry margins. Global investment banking fees totalled £11.4 billion in the first three months of the year, a decline of nearly 30 per cent compared with the first quarter of last year. - Times

The battle to take over the London Stock Exchange intensified last night when the owner of the New York Stock Exchange secured funding from American and Asian banks as it prepares its own £10 billion bid. InterContinental Exchange has reached agreement with Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Mitsubishi UFJ, of Japan, to provide part of the debt required to finance an offer for the London exchange. - Times

US close

Declining oil prices offset sizeable gains in health care stocks in the US on Monday, leading stocks in the country to start the week in the red.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.31% at 17,737.00, the S&P 500 was off 0.32% at 2,066.13, and the Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.46% at 4,891.79.

Oil prices were dragged down below $36 per barrel during the session, with traders noting that as long as oil sits above the $35 level, "the market seems comfortable".