Acacia claims it's still operating Tanzanian mines, Ashtead to hike dividend by almost a quarter

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 33 points higher on Tuesday, after closing down 0.21% at 7,511.87 on Monday.

Stocks to watch

Acacia Mining has confirmed that it is continuing to operate all three of its mines in Tanzania, after the government accused it of operating illegally and avoiding tax by under-declaring its gold exports. Acacia pointed out that its Tanzanian mines are all owned and operated by companies that are legally incorporated and registered in Tanzania, which each hold special mining licences, possibly in response to the government's accusation that the company was not properly licensed in the country.

Investors in visitor attraction operator Merlin Entertainments were set to muster for the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, with the board confirming group trading for the year to date had been “broadly” in line with expectations, reflecting the outlook and commentary it provided on 2 March. The FTSE 100 firm said it had continued to make “good progress” towards its 2020 ‘New Business Development’ milestones, with around 250 accommodation rooms opened, along with three ‘midway’ attractions and LEGOLAND Japan, which was ahead of schedule.

Ashtead Group proposed hiking its dividend by almost a quarter after beating the City's profit forecast and foreseeing another good year ahead. Rental revenue rose 13% last year to £2.9bn and pre-tax profit leapt 23% to £793m, beating consensus forecast by £1m.

Newspaper round-up

The global ‘credit impulse’ has fallen as dramatically over recent months as it did during the onset of the Lehman crisis, signalling serious headwinds for the world economy and asset prices just as the US Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy. A key UBS tracking indicator shows that the impulse has plummeted by 6pc of GDP since peaking last year, driven by powerful swings in China and the US. - Telegraph

The start of formal Brexit talks has been delayed in the wake of the political uncertainty caused by Theresa May’s disastrous election result. Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, yesterday met Oliver Robbins, the most senior civil servant in David Davis's Brexit department, but the two men failed to reach an agreement on a start date for talks. - Telegraph

Senior Cabinet ministers are engaged in secret talks with Labour MPs to secure cross-party backing for a soft Brexit, it has emerged. Some of the most senior members of Theresa May's team have been discussing how to force the Prime Minister to make concessions on immigration, the customs union and the single market. - Telegraph

Theresa May is poised to bring to a close seven years of austerity after Tory MPs warned that they would refuse to vote for further cuts. The prime minister spent the day apologising to her cabinet and backbenchers, saying that she took full responsibility for losing the party’s Commons majority and running a poor campaign. - The Times

Employers in Britain are planning to take on new workers over coming months despite looming Brexit negotiations and slower economic growth, according to a survey. A poll of 2,109 employers by recruitment agency ManpowerGroup found that a net balance of 5% were planning to increase staff levels rather than cut them over the July-to-September quarter. - Guardian

US close

Wall Street's main market gauges were slightly lower at the start of the week on follow-through selling in the tech space.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.17% at 21,235.67, the S&P 500 lost 0.1% to 2,429.39 and the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.59% to 5,708.18.

On Friday, the Nasdaq slumped 1.8%, dragged lower by a note from Goldman Sachs which highlighted a "valuation air pocket" in the tech sector.

"Driven by the rise of megatech, momentum, as a factor, has built a valuation air pocket underneath it creating cause for pause,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.

“Our view is that FAAMG - Facebook, Amazon.com, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet (Google) - a group of five stocks, not four - have been the key drivers of both the (S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100) returns year-to date."

On Monday, strategists at JP Morgan said that while superficially US cyclicals were "holding up better on the surface", that was mostly due to technology stocks.