London pre-open: Stocks to fall on downbeat US cues

London stocks were set to fall at the open on Tuesday following a downbeat session on Wall Street.

The FTSE 100 was called to open down 12 points at 7,246.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, said: "Risk appetite continues its struggle to attract attention, and looking at the stock futures in the US and Europe it becomes clear that the bear market rally has stalled for now.

"Investors and traders are worried about the soaring inflation situation and weak economic growth, and these two factors continue to flash red signs on their trading dashboards. Yesterday, we saw all the major US stock indices dipping again and staring the weak on the back foot, and bears are ready to build on that momentum today.

"The question that traders are asking is if the bear market rally is over. The answer to this billion-dollar question depends on several factors. Firstly, we are almost closing the first half of the year, which has been bad for the equity markets, and it doesn't seem like the second half is going to be any better due to recession fear. More importantly, more and more companies are reporting that they are freezing their hiring process or they are cutting their headcount."

In corporate news, energy services company Petrofac said trading and expectations were in line with guidance, adding that its engineering and construction division was set to secure strong order intake in the second half and deliver backlog growth year on year.

Scottish energy firm SSE and Norwegian petroleum refining company Equinor have jointly agreed to acquire Triton Power Holdings from Energy Capital Partners for a total of £341.0m, shared equally between the partners.

SSE said the transaction represented "another step forward" for the two companies' existing collaboration, supporting the long-term decarbonisation of the UK's power system whilst contributing to security of supply and grid stability through flexible power generation in the shorter term.