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London pre-open: Stocks seen firmer on positive Asian cues
London stocks were set for a firmer open on Monday, taking their cue from a positive session in Asia.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 13 points higher at 7,307.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "Stock markets around the world rebounded last week as investors took at advantage of the relatively low prices of equities. Whenever there is a severe sell-off in the stock markets, traders spend a lot of time wondering is there another leg lower coming, or is it safe to get back in the water.
"The move higher last week saw some indices reach their highest levels in over a week. Market confidence often attracts even more market confidence, and that is what we are seeing at the moment. The cooling of the volatility index (VIX) has been given some dealers the green light to buy back into the stock market, and while the fear factor keeps sliding, it is likely equity benchmarks will continue to push higher."
There are no major data releases due but Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will give a speech at Regents University at 1845 GMT.
Madden said: "The latest BoE update showed us the bank is heading in a hawkish direction. Traders are reasonably confident there will be an interest rate hike in May, so all eyes will be the speech. Last week we saw UK inflation hold steady at 3% and the core inflation figures ticked up to 2.7%, from 2.5%. The robust levels of demand in the UK adds to the argument the BoE should raise rate in May."
Investors will be digesting the latest survey from Rightmove released earlier, which showed the average UK asking price rose 0.8% on the month in February following a 0.7% jump the month before. On the year, house prices were up 1.5% compared to a 1.1% increase in January.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: ""This month's rise of 0.8% is well below the 1.6% monthly average at this time of year over the last 10 years, and it is wise for sellers to be cautious and not to over-price given stretched buyer affordability."
In corporate news, Polymetal International said it had agreed to increase its stake in the Russian Prognoz silver property to 50% from 5% for $72m to be paid in Polymetal shares.
James Fisher said it had bought Australian recompression chamber maker Cowan Manufacturing for AUD $2.6m (£1.5m) in cash.
Cowan, based in New South Wales, designs, makes, installs transportable recompression chamber systems and other life support equipment for the Australian navy and wider international defence market.
AstraZeneca and MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, announced on Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Imfinzi for the treatment of patients with unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whose disease has not progressed following concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy (CRT).
"The approval of Imfinzi in this earlier stage of non-small cell lung cancer is a truly meaningful milestone for patients who, until now, had no FDA-approved treatment options following chemoradiation therapy," said executive vice-president, head of AstraZeneca's oncology business unit Dave Fredrickson.