London's blue chips are set to open flat on Monday morning ahead of a very busy week both at home and abroad, particularly in the latter half. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open unchanged from Friday's close of 6,649."European markets are set for an incredibly busy week as we see the first week of the new month," said Alpari market analyst James Hughes.He continued: "The story overnight is yet again the strength of the US dollar as Asian markets fell led by a thrashing in Hong Kong [...] However, if anything is going to shift investor opinion about the dollar it could well be this week as the data is incredibly heavy."This afternoon we will get the release of the personal consumption numbers as well as pending home sales figures. Investors will be yet again looking for any kind of positive number that could force Janet Yellen's hand into an earlier rate hike." In company news, emerging markets focused asset manager Aberdeen saw assets under management (AuM) rise by 3% in the two months to 31 August, as the rate of net outflows moderated considerably. Net outflows over the last two months amounted to just £1.7bn, after a drain of £8.8bn in the two months prior. The largest decrease in AuM was seen at Aberdeen's fixed income unit. Executives at the fund manager also highlighted that the integration of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) was progressing as scheduled.Despite the on-going, yet limited, disruptions to trading as a result of the 'sequestration' of US federal government expenditure, defence contractor BAE Systems maintained its full-year earnings outlook. In its latest interim management statement for the three months ended 28 September, the group revealed that its order intake for the year to 23 August was at £7.9bn, with £2.6bn of that originating from non-UK/US markets.Astrazeneca has presented data relating to various cancer treatment studies at the 2014 European Society of Medical Oncology Congress. "We are encouraged by the results we are seeing and look forward to providing further updates as we continue to work at pace to get these potentially life-changing medicines to patients," the drugs group said.