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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, as investors look ahead to the week's central bank decisions.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 16.0 points, 0.2%, at 7,307.28 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed down 63.29 points, 0.9%, at 7,291.28 on Friday.
"With weekend events starting to see further modest Gaza incursions the hope is that this incremental approach will ratchet up the pressure on Hamas, while not provoking another front on Israel's northern border with Lebanon and Hezbollah. Despite the fact the Gaza incursions occurred after European markets had closed on Friday markets in Europe look set to open slightly firmer, given the limited nature of the military action so far," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
The dollar was mostly stronger against major currencies in early exchanges in Europe.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2123 early Monday, down from USD1.2149 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at USD1.0561, lower than USD1.0594. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY149.58, little changed versus JPY149.59, as the Bank of Japan begins its two-day monetary policy meeting.
Central bank decisions will be in focus this week, with a decision from the BoJ due on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, and the Bank of England to follow on Thursday.
Investors will be keen to see if the yen's recent historic lows will prompt the BoJ to pivot away from its ultra-loose monetary policy. Meanwhile, the Fed and the BoE are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, meaning all eyes will be on forward guidance.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed down 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.8%.
Gold was quoted at USD1,998.85 an ounce early Monday, higher than USD1,981.94 on Friday.
Brent oil was trading at USD89.58 a barrel, higher than USD87.63.
In Monday's corporate calendar, there's a trading statement from miner and commodities firm Glencore and publisher Pearson. HSBC results are already out, showing a surge in third-quarter profit, as the bank announced a USD3 billion buyback. However, the bottom-line figures did come in below market forecasts, sending the bank's shares down 0.5% in Hong Kong.
In the economic calendar on Monday, there's the UK Nationwide house price index due shortly. Later on. there's German flash consumer price inflation data for October and a preliminary gross domestic product reading for the third quarter.
By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter
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