London pre-open: Stocks seen lower on weak US and Asian cues as oil drops

London stocks are expected to open lower on Tuesday, tracking weakness in the US and Asia amid sliding oil prices.

The FTSE 100 is seen starting 47 points lower than Monday’s close at 5,830.

“The oil market continues to take no prisoners as no sooner had we seen a sharp move above $30 on Friday, than we saw a similarly sharp move lower yesterday as nearly all of Friday’s gains were wiped out, dropping back below the $30 a barrel mark in the process, as the old concerns of oversupply and financial solvency of suppliers once again reasserted themselves, as producers continued to pump at record rates,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

There are no major UK data releases due, but in the US, S&P/Case Shiller house prices are at 1400 GMT, Markit Services PMI is at 1445 GMT and consumer confidence is at 1500 GMT.

Dixons Carphone reports solid Christmas trading

Dixons Carphone ended 2015 on a high, reporting positive sales growth in the 10 weeks to 9 January, including a bumper Black Friday.

The FTSE 100 electronics retailer reported 5% increases in like-for-like revenues across its European regions.

Dixons Carphone also said it expected group headline profit before tax to be in the range of £440m-£450m for the year, slightly ahead of consensus.

The Sharm el-Sheikh disaster and the Paris attacks have hit EasyJet’s revenue for the three months to 31 December.

The FTSE 100 airline said in a trading statement on Tuesday that the tragic events resulted in lower demand and yield in November and December, offsetting strong revenue per seat performance in October.

As a result, revenue per seat was down 3.7% at constant currency, while total revenue was down 0.1% to £930m.