Wood Group celebrates contract win

London open

The Footsie was expected to start the day nine points higher from last Friday´s closing level of 6,146.05.

Stocks to watch

Paper maker Mondi said it had been named in a Russian anti-monopoly investigation, although it had not been officially notified by authorities. The company said in a statement that Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) announced last week it had started an investigation into Mondi's Syktyvkar for violations of antimonopoly law over offset paper.

FTSE 250 energy services firm Wood Group was celebrating a contract win on Monday morning, announcing it had been awarded a two-year extension to its service provision for the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) in the North Sea. Under the contract, which also includes options for three one-year extensions, Wood Group will continue to deliver engineering, construction and maintenance services to five offshore assets - Cormorant Alpha, North Cormorant, Eider, Tern and Harding. The contract was effective immediately, and extended an agreement in place between Wood Group and TAQA since 2008.

Polymetal International said it has agreed to buy the Komarovskoye gold deposit in Kazakhstan from Glencore for $100m in cash and royalties. The deal should be completed this year, Polymetal said. Polymetal's Net debt/ Adjusted EBITDA will not materially change after the Acquisition compared to 2015 year end (1.97x as at 31/12/2015).

In the press

Investment by large British companies has slowed dramatically because of rising fears among finance directors about the potential turmoil caused by a vote for Brexit in June. The possibility of Britain leaving the European Union is now regarded as the biggest threat to business by finance directors, eclipsing longstanding concerns such as weak demand in the euro area.

An EU deal to return tens of thousands of migrants from Greece to Turkey is in chaos amid protests in refugee detention centres and shortages of officials to carry out the deportations. EU sources admitted that the number of migrants, including Syrian refugees, returned from the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios today would be nothing like the planned figure of 500. - The Times

Britain's exit from the European Union would lead to the “implosion” of the continental bloc and force the United States to intervene to put “Humpty Dumpty back together again”, the boss of the London Stock Exchange has claimed. Xavier Rolet added that the “UK leaving the European Union is the end of the European Union”. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Rolet, one of 200 business leaders to sign a high-profile letter in February supporting the campaign for the UK to remain in Europe, said such a prospect would be “devastating.” - The Daily Telegraph

US close

Wall Street rose to its highest finish since the first week of January as better-than-expected data joined hands with steadying oil prices. Even with oil weak initially, all three indices started strongly and by the close the S&P 500 spiked 2.37% by the close, its best ever start to March, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.11% for its best start since 2002, according to Dow Jones data.