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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Monday following an upbeat finish in US equity markets on Friday, as investors look ahead to a week of key UK company earnings.
In early company news, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey and pet products retailer Pets at Home Group named new chief executives. Property investor Great Portland Estates said it achieved record leasing.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 11.90 points higher at 7,528.30. The index closed down 12.44 points, or 0.2%, at 7,516.40 on Friday.
Taylor Wimpey promoted Jennie Daly to the role of chief executive officer, effective from the conclusion of the annual general meeting on April 26 to replace the outgoing Pete Redfern.
Daly is currently operations director of Taylor Wimpey and a member of the board of directors. She joined Taylor Wimpey in 2014 from Redrow, where she was managing director of its Harrow Estates business.
Pets at Home Group said it has appointed Lyssa McGowan as CEO with effect from June 1. McGowan will succeed Peter Pritchard, who in November had announced plans to step down in the summer.
McGowan is the outgoing chief consumer officer at pay-television firm Sky UK. She will be appointed to the board as CEO-designate on April 25 prior to taking over as CEO. She was a non-executive director of Wm Morrison Supermarkets until its recent sale to CD&R.
Great Portland Estates said that since October 1, it has agreed 17 new lettings for 102,100 square feet of space, generating an annual rent of GBP5.5 million.
In total, Great Portland said it has now signed 460,900 square feet of new lettings since the start of the financial year on April, generating a combined annual rent of GBP32.5 million. This surpassed its previous record leasing high of GBP31.8 million in 2016 with two months of the financial year still remaining, it noted.
CEO Toby Courtauld said: "It is a significant achievement to deliver record leasing in a period marked by such economic and social disruption, which is a testament to both the quality of the spaces we have been delivering and the dedication and hard work of the GPE team. Absent a resurgence of the pandemic, our confidence is building for the remainder of 2022, as we expect the combination of economic growth, a return to normal trading conditions, and central London's magnetic appeal to be positive for our markets."
In the US on Friday last week, the much-anticipated non-farm payrolls data saw the Labor Department sharply revise up the previous three months' readings, while also revealing a surge in wage growth.
Wall Street ended mostly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.1%, but the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Nasdaq Composite up 1.6%.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented: "As we look ahead to the upcoming week, inflation expectations for the US economy are likely to encounter a new challenge with the release of US CPI for January on Thursday, which is expected to rise. Friday's payrolls report had the effect of pushing yields higher while keeping inflation expectations in check. This week's US CPI report may well not have the same effect, which means last week's volatility is unlikely to be a one-off.
"Today's European open looks set to be a positive one, after Friday's positive finish for US markets."
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 2.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.4%. Markets in mainland China reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%.
China's service sector saw growth slow at the start of 2022 due to an uptick in Covid-19 cases across the globe, survey data from Caixin showed.
The business activity index fell to 51.4 points in January from 53.1 in December. As the reading remained above the no-change mark of 50.0, it signalled the sector continued to expand in January, but at a slower pace than December.
Firms highlighted that the pandemic and subsequent measures to contain the virus weighed on growth. New export orders fell for the first time in four months, and at the quickest pace since October 2020, as businesses pointed towards damped international demand due to Covid cases overseas.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3532 early Monday, hardly budged from USD1.3535 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1430, down from USD1.1443 late Friday. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY115.27, flat on JPY115.25.
Brent oil was quoted at USD93.16 a barrel on Monday morning, down from USD93.35 late Friday. Gold stood at USD1,811.50 an ounce, higher against USD1,804.75.
Ahead in the economic calendar this week, there is a US inflation print on Thursday and UK economic growth figures on Friday.
Earnings season in the UK begins in earnest this week, with annual results due from a slew of blue-chip names. Oil major BP and online grocer Ocado report on Tuesday and drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday. Data analytics firm RELX and consumer goods maker Unilever follow on Thursday, with the week rounded off by British American Tobacco on Friday.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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