London pre-open: Stocks to nudge up ahead of Sino-US trade talks
London stocks were set to nudge up at the open on Monday as investors eyed the latest round of trade talks between the US and China, with Brexit also still firmly in focus ahead of next week's Commons vote on Theresa May's deal.
The FTSE 100 was called to open five points higher at 6,842.
Officials from the US and China were due to meet for talks in Beijing later in the day in what will be the first discussions since Trump and Xi Jinping agreed a temporary truce in December.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "The power dynamic has changed too, the US stock market is far from reaching record highs, so President Trump might be willing to adopt a more open approach."
On home turf, Brexit was at the forefront of investors' minds ahead of next week's Commons vote.
London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said: "A failure by Theresa May to secure further reassurances from Brussels over the Irish border means the probability of the Brexit deal being voted through Parliament remains extremely slim.
"However, it is also becoming more apparent that ministers are against a no deal Brexit. A cross party group are urging May to guarantee that the UK won’t leave without a deal. Optimism of Parliament not accepting a no deal Brexit, or even a second referendum being on the cards, is offering the pound support as it begins what promises to be another turbulent week."
In corporate news, homewares group Dunelm sounded a note of caution about full year results due to “unprecedented” uncertainty caused by Brexit.
The company said it expected interim pre-tax profits to come in around £70m after £3.8m in impairment charges. It reported second quarter revenues of £303m, up 2%.
"If the homewares market continues to grow at a similar rate to that experienced in the first half, we expect to deliver full year profit before tax modestly ahead of the top of the range of current analysts' forecasts," the company said.
Equiniti has won a contract to run the UK media and telecoms watchdog's scheme to compensate users of radio spectrum that is being cleared for use in 5G mobile services.
Ofcom's Programme Making and Special Events grant funding scheme will compensate users such as theatres, broadcasters, and live music and sporting events as they have to stop using equipment on the low frequency 700 MHZ band.
ContourGlobal has agreed to acquire Alpek's Mexico portfolio of two natural gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plants, together with development rights and permits for a third plant, for $724m in cash.
The company said an additional payment at closing estimated at $77m would represent the value added tax assessed for the transaction, and was expected to be refunded in full within 12 months of closing. The two CHP plants would provide electricity and steam under long-term contracts to subsidiaries of Alfa Group - a Mexican industrial conglomerate - and other commercial and industrial customers.