London pre-open: Stocks seen flat as oil prices surge on Middle East tensions

London stocks were set for a steady open on Monday as oil prices surged amid tensions in the Middle East.

The FTSE 100 was called to open unchanged at 7,494.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "Capital flows into the safety of US dollar and gold this morning, while oil is up almost 4% after Hamas’ unexpected attack on Israel wreaked havoc in the region last Friday, and tensions have been mounting since then.

"There are rumours that Iran helped Hamas organise its attack, and the US said it’s sending warships to the region. The escalation of the tensions sent a panic wave into the financial markets on Monday open. The barrel of American crude traded past $87pb, as fears of a potential retaliation against Iran threaten the passage of vessels carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz and flip the market rhetoric from a potentially slowing global oil demand to tight global supply.

"It is difficult to predict the extent of the price action on geopolitical shocks. The fact that the US and Iran are pulled into the turmoil hints that tensions may further escalate. From a price perspective, the $90pb level is expected to shelter decent offers in US crude, as escalation and prolongation of Mid-East tensions could be the final straw that could bring the world very close to the brink of recession, and temper appetite for oil. It's too early to call."

In UK corporate news, specialty chemicals company Croda cut its full-year profit expectations amid weak demand.

Croda said in an update that "with no indications of a significant rebound to come in the fourth quarter", it now expects full-year 2023 group adjusted pre-tax profit of between £300m and £320m, down from previous guidance of £370m to £400m.

Elsewhere, Metro Bank announced a capital package, including a £325m capital raise - encompassing £150m of new equity and £175m of new MREL issuance - and £600m of debt refinancing.

The bank, which was the subject of reports of a potential refinancing last week, said it was also exploring an asset sale of up to £3bn of residential mortgages, projected to scale down risk-weighted assets by £1bn and be earnings accretive in 2024 depending on pricing.

GSK has entered into a new exclusive vaccine partnership in China that will extend the availability of its shingle vaccine Shingrix.

The pharmaceutical giant is partnering with Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products (or Zhifei), China's largest vaccine company, to promote Shingrix through the latter's service network, which covers more than 30,000 vaccination points across the country. The partnership is for three years initially and will start on 1 January 2024.