London pre-open: FTSE seen touch higher; rate decisions in focus

London stocks are set open just a touch higher on Monday, despite a positive session in Asia, following solid gains at the end of last week.

The FTSE 100 is seen starting six points higher than Friday’s close at 6,145.

There are no major UK data due on Monday but this week, investors will focus on the UK Budget Statement and the Federal Reserve rate decision on Wednesday, with the Bank of England rate announcement due on Thursday.

“Monday is looking rather quiet but gives markets another opportunity to properly absorb last week’s ECB announcement before other central banks steal the spotlight,” said Oanda’s Craig Erlam.

He added that the slew of rate decisions “should make for an interesting week for the markets and provide a real test of central banks’ ability to successfully manage market expectations”.

SSE sells stake in Clyde wind farm

Energy firm SSE said it has signed agreements for the sale of 49.9% of its operational 349.6MW Clyde Wind Farm to Greencoat UK Wind and GMPF & LPFA Infrastructure LLP for a headline £355m.

When the 172.8MW extension to Clyde is commissioned (currently under construction, completion expected in June 2017) the equity stake jointly owned by UKW and GLIL will be diluted to 30% with SSE retaining 70%. This shareholding implies a combined valuation of the two wind farms of £2.27m per MW.

In addition to completing the construction of the extension, SSE said it would provide long term management services for the day to day operations of all 522.4MW as well as long term route to market PPAs.

In March 2014 SSE announced a programme to raise £1bn from the sale of non-core assets and businesses and the sale of existing or in-development onshore wind farms. Monday's announcement takes the total proceeds achieved to date in excess of that target and will release capital to support future investment, it added.

UAE healthcare provider NMC Health has reported a 46.7% jump in underlying full year profits of $150.3m on the back of a 36.8% rise in revenue to $880.9m.

"We expect a good year for the UAE economy in 2016 supported by a reasonable GDP growth of around 3% despite the lower oil prices, based on forecasts by leading rating agencies," the company said.

"However, for the local healthcare sector the key accelerating driver of growth will be the on-going adoption of mandatory healthcare insurance in Dubai and the expected increase in covered patient rising from 1m to 3m according to Dubai Healthcare Authority (DHA).

Murray International Trust reported on a year of depressed returns on Monday, with net asset value total return of -7.8% in 2015, down from 3% a year earlier. Share price total return was -15.2% in the calendar year, compared with 1.7%, and benchmark total return was 2.6%, down from 7.5%.

The FTSE 250 investment trust revealed a revenue return per share of 45.7p, up from 40.8p in 2014, and recommended a final dividend of 15p, taking the total dividend per share to 46.5p - a lift from 45p in the prior year.