London pre-open: Stocks seen up after US gains

London stocks were set to rise at the open on Tuesday following a solid close on Wall Street, which saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq set new record highs.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 40 points higher.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "The S&P 500 hit a record high yesterday, its 30th record high since the beginning of this year. The technology stocks led the rally.

"Apple, which revealed its plans to integrate ChatGPT into its iPhones last week, gained 2% and Tesla jumped more than 5% on news that it has been given approval to test its advanced driver-assistance system on some streets in Shanghai.

"Nasdaq 100 is now a few points below the 20,000 psychological mark and it’s not about if but when it will take out this level."

In UK corporate news, Premier Inn owner Whitbread said it was confident on its full year outlook despite flat first quarter sales.

Hotel sales were boosted by a strong performance in Germany, where they rose 15%, offsetting zero growth in the UK.

"While midweek business demand and peak leisure demand remained robust, weekend demand at short-lead was slightly softer, particularly in London, reflecting a return to more normalised levels after what was a very strong performance last year,” the company said.

Aerospace manufacturing group Melrose appointed the former boss of British Land and veteran banker Chris Grigg as its chair designate.

Grigg, currently chair of the UK Infrastructure Bank, was the former CEO of Barclays Commercial Bank, Treasurer of Barclays Bank and a former 20-year partner at Goldman Sachs.

He replaces Justin Dowley, who is stepping down as non-executive chair, having led the board since 2019.

AstraZeneca announced that a phase three trial for ‘Truqap’, or capivasertib, combined with paclitaxel in advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients did not achieve the primary endpoints of improved overall survival.

The pharmaceuticals firm said the trial compared Truqap to paclitaxel with placebo, in both the overall population and a subgroup with specific biomarker alterations.

Truqap was still being evaluated in other phase three trials for the treatment of breast cancer and prostate cancer, in combination with established treatments.