London pre-open: Equity markets set for positive start

London stocks were set to rise at the open on Monday following a positive close on Wall Street on Friday.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 40 points higher at 7,541.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Despite the slow drip feed of negative headlines of rising gas prices, and the supply chain challenges thrown up by the heatwave in Europe, there’s been little appetite to drive stocks lower in recent weeks. Both the FTSE100 and DAX touched their best levels in two months last week, as markets in Europe closed higher for the fourth week in a row.

"US markets also underwent another strong week of gains, also finishing higher for the fourth week in a row, helped in no small part by the belief, at least in the US, that inflation appears to have peaked, although Fed officials have been keen to push back hard on that narrative.

"As get set for the start of a new week, this week’s focus will be on the consumer in China, US and the UK, with little in the way of cheer expected in any of the retail sales numbers, though of all the consumers, the US consumer has managed to outperform this year, with only a single negative month so far."

In corporate news, insurer Phoenix Group said it had delivered a record first-half performance, leading the group to up its interim dividend.

Phoenix said it had recorded "strong" cash generation of £950.0m in the six months ended 30 June, up from £872.0m a year earlier, and said it was now confident of hitting the top-end of its full-year guidance of £1.3bn-£1.4bn.

The FTSE 100 firm also declared an interim dividend of 24.8p per share, equal to its 2021 final dividend and an increase of 3% year-on-year.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca said that positive high-level results from a new trial of its Enhertu breast cancer drug had demonstrated a "statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement" in progression-free survival.

AstraZeneca said the DESTINY-Breast02 Phase III trial on Enhertu, jointly developed and commercialised with Daiichi Sankyo, also met its key secondary endpoint of improved overall survival.