London pre-open: Stocks seen a little lower after China inflation data

London stocks were set to open a little lower on Monday following a mixed session in Asia after Chinese data revealed inflation remains benign.

London’s FTSE 100 was seen starting 14 points lower than Friday’s close at 6,190.

“European stock markets are expected to open slightly lower on Monday, following some mixed trade in Asia overnight and ahead of a quieter start to the week on the economic data side,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

“We got the first of a number of key Chinese economic releases this week, overnight, with the latest CPI and PPI inflation data showing inflationary pressures easing again in March, despite food inflation jumping to a six-month high. Still, overall inflationary pressures remain to the downside and with the PPI reading being in negative territory for the 49th consecutive month, the PBOC may need to step up its easing efforts.”

There are no major UK data releases due on Monday.

Vedanta updates on production

FTSE 250 metals and mining company Vedanta Resources reported record annual production of aluminium, electricity, silver and Copper India cathodes in its fourth quarter production release on Monday morning.

The firm also revealed stable oil and gas production from Rajasthan for the quarter, mined metal production in line with guidance at Zinc India, strong production volumes for its Zinc International businesses, and continued strong production for the year at Copper Zambia.

"We are continuing to optimise production across our portfolio to generate maximum value in a low commodity price environment and remaining focussed on reducing costs to protect margins,” said Vedanta Resources CEO Tom Albanese.

Food producer Cranswick announced the acquisition of CCL Holdings on Monday, and its 100% owned subsidiary Crown Chicken Limited from the Thacker family and management.

The FTSE 250 firm’s board paid a cash consideration of £40m for the deal, funded from existing bank facilities.

For the year ended 31 December, revenue for Crown was £83.8m with adjusted EBITDA sitting at £6.6m. Adjusted gross assets at year-end were £28.4m. Crown’s workforce totalled 400 across its operations.

Cranswick expected the acquisition to be modestly earnings-enhancing in the current financial year.