London pre-open: Footsie set for higher start

The Footsie was being called to start the day on the front foot following positive news from US president Donald Trump´s meeting with Japanese leader Shinzo Abe and after he reaffirmed Washington´s 'One China' policy in a telephone call with China´s leader.

Accoridng to financial bookmakers the FTSE 100 index would start the day up by 17 points at 7,275 on Monday.

In parallel, the Shanghai Stock Exchange´s Composite index ended the session higher by 0.63% to 3,216.84.

Investors had been worried in particular about whether America would renege on it slong-standing policy commitment to support Chinese reunification, a lynchpin of its regional security strategy in Asia Pacific.

His reaffirmation of that policy was made via a phone call with China´s Xi Jinping, according to the White House.

Trump´s meeting with Abe on the other hand came against the backdrop of an unexpected intermediate range ballistic missile test by the regime in Pyongang, North Korea, which served to underline the policy challenges faced by the new US administration.

"European equity markets are expected to open higher on Monday, tracking gains in Asia overnight where investors appear relieved at the softening foreign policy stance of new US President Donald Trump towards the region.

"It’s been a surprisingly good few days for those that were concerned about the relationship between the US under Trump and two of Asia’s powerhouses, China and Japan. It seems that Trump’s stance in relation to both has softened considerably since being elected – at least in public – and he may have adopted a relationship more in line with previous regimes," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Investors line-up for special divi at Fidessa

Fidessa declared a final and a special dividend as the financial software group said the increased headwinds in its markets during the second half of the year have already begun to reduce. For the calendar year, the FTSE 250 group generated £331.9m revenue, up 12% on a reported basis, or 3% when the benefit of sterling weakness is excluded, with profit before tax up 25% to £48.8m.

Passenger transport operator National Express announced on Monday that the transaction with Trenitalia over the c2c rail franchise had completed on 11 February, with the Italian state rail operator assuming all responsibility for the franchise’s operations immediately.The FTSE 250 firm had initially announced the deal on 11 February, selling the Essex Thameside franchisee for £70m, marking its exit from UK rail operations and Trenitalia’s British debut. Completion of the acquisition was triggered after the Department for Transport granted final consent to proceed.

Capita and the Co-operative Bank have resolved their differences over claims that the outsourcing firm withheld payments from the bank due to delays as it helped administer mortgages for Capita’s clients.FTSE 100 Capita said on Monday that its Western Mortgage Services business will continue to provide mortgage administration services and process new mortgage applications for the Co-operative Bank, while work on the transforming the IT system will cease.