London pre-open: Stocks seen higher as Asia stabilises

London stocks are set to open higher on Tuesday on the back of a stabilisation in Asian markets following heavy losses in the previous session.

The FTSE 100 is expected to start 49 points higher than Monday’s close at 6,142.

“After an initial wobble, shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen turned positive on Tuesday thanks to an injection of liquidity from the People’s Bank of China. The quick recovery in Chinese shares coupled with the apparent will to take action on behalf of policymakers looks set to create a positive open in UK and Europe,” said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.

On the data front, investors will eye the release of UK construction PMI at 0930 GMT.

Next sales disappoint but profit on target

In its much anticipated post-Christmas trading update, Next revealed sales were below expectations but said profits were within the range of guidance after the clothing retailer held back from discounting until Boxing Day.

With the mild weather partly to blame, full price retail sales fell 0.5% in the period from 26 October to 24 December, which was short of expectations.

Full price sales from its Directory catalogue were up 2.0% but were well below estimates as the weather was exacerbated by poor stock availability from October onwards as well as the admission that "the online competitive environment is getting tougher"

Full price sales for the year to 2 January are currently 3.7% ahead of last year, just below the bottom end of management's previous guidance of 4.0%-6.0%.

Medical tech business Smith & Nephew has completed the acquisition of surgical robotics business Blue Belt Technologies.

The FTSE 100 company announced the completion of the deal on Monday, which was originally announced in October last year.

It said the deal, which is valued at $275m (£186.8m), will secure a leading position in the fast-growing area of orthopaedic robotics-assisted surgery.

Bwin.party was ending its financial year on a high, ahead of its final results and takeover by GVC Holdings.

The FTSE 250 online gambling company, in a market update on Tuesday, said its Q4 net revenue was up 5% on the previous year, driven primarily by sports betting and casino games through mobile channels.

Bwin.party said EU VAT, introduced in some of its main markets in 1 January 2015, did have an impact on the company, and without it the growth in net revenue would have been 8%.

The firm was also looking forward to a payment of approximately €10m through the sale of Visa Europe to Visa International. Bwin.party's subsidiary Kalixa Payments is a principal member of Visa Europe.

Bwin.party remained due to be acquired by GVC Holdings on 1 February, after shareholders approved all recommended resolutions surrounding the deal at an extraordinary general meeting on 15 December 2015.