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LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 stock index is called to more than 100 points higher on Monday in a promising start to a year-end rally, buoyed by a pause to US-China trade tensions.In early UK company news, Babcock International won a contract with the Australian Defence Force, RPC Group remains in takeover talks with Apollo Global Management but has terminated discussions with Bain Capital, and Spirax-Sarco sold a unit for EUR59 million.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of London large-caps to open 112.56 points higher at 7,092.80 on Monday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 58.71 points, or 0.8%, at 6,980.24 on Friday."Last week's late rally in US stocks was also helped by some cautious optimism that we might not see an escalation in trade tensions between the US and China over the weekend. This optimism proved to be justified as and has been reflected in a strong rebound in Asia and a likely positive open in Europe this morning, in the aftermath of the weekend meeting between President Trump and President Xi," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.The US and China over the weekend agreed to a 90-day ceasefire in their trade war, giving the sides time to continue negotiations. The announcement followed talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Argentina at the close of the G20 summit. The meeting lasted more than two hours.Trump agreed that on January 1 he would leave the recently increased tariffs on USD200 billion worth of Chinese product at 10% and not raise the rate to 25%, as he had threatened. Negotiations between the sides in the next three months will also look at intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft. The White House warned that if the sides could not reach a deal in the allotted time frame, the tariffs would go up. In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all gaining 0.8%.Microsoft unseated Apple to rank as the world's most valuable listed company. The software giant ended Friday in New York with a market value of more than USD851 billion compared with Apple's USD847 billion. Both companies remain well below the USD1 trillion milestone that Apple and Amazon hit earlier this year.In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 2.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 2.6%.Qatar will withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries effective January 1, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said Monday, according state-owned Qatar Petroleum.Qatar Petroleum, of which al-Kaabi is chief executive officer, said on Twitter that OPEC was informed of the country's withdrawal."The withdrawal decision reflects Qatar's desire to focus its efforts on plans to develop and increase its natural gas production from 77 million tons per year to 110 million tons in the coming years," the minister was quoted as saying at a press conference in Doha.The move comes ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna on Thursday.ThinkMarkets analyst Naeem Aslam said he would not be surprised if other members of the cartel followed suit. "Basically, Qataris have brought the biggest weapon out and it only means more instability between the Qatari and Saudi relationship. In fact, we would not be surprised if other counties start to follow the same path, and then we have no control over supply or demand as each individual country could just do what they like," said Aslam.In early company news, defence firm Babcock International said its joint venture has been awarded a new contract by the Australian Defence Force, worth around AUD1.5 billion for up to 15 years.The 50-50 joint venture between Babcock and engineer UGL, Naval Ship Management, has won asset steward of the largest vessels in the Royal Australian Navy: two flagship Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Docks and their 12 associated amphibious landing crafts. The joint venture will begin the work to sustain and support these vessels in July 2019.Plastic products maker RPC Group said that takeover talks with Apollo Global Management continue, though it "mutually agreed" to terminate discussions with Bain Capital.Apollo now has until December 21 to either announce a firm offer for the FTSE 250 constituent or walk away. Bain has until 1700 GMT on Monday to either make a firm offer or walk away, and RPC has not requested an extension to this deadline. "A further announcement will be made when appropriate. There can be no certainty that any offer will be made for the company, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made," said RPC.Spirax-Sarco Engineering said it has sold HygroMatik for EUR59.0 million. HygroMatik joined the Spirax Sarco group in 1988, but the company explained that, "due to limited strategic fit" the unit has always operated separately from the Steam Specialties division in which it is reported. "This low level of integration limits our ability to improve sales growth while maintaining HygroMatik's excellent profitability," the company said. The unit has been sold to Carel Industries. Stobart Group said it will be reducing its dividend payout for its current financial year in order to invest in "value-creating opportunities" and "maintain a strong balance sheet".The Southend airport owner said it plans to pay a 1.5p dividend for the fourth quarter, meaning that the total dividend paid in the current financial year is 15p per share, down from 16.5p the year before.The company also said trading has been in line with expectations, and expansion opportunities at Southend airport "increasingly evident" following commercial agreements with Ryanair and easyJet along with other airline partners. The agreements provide confidence that the airport will record a significant increase in passengers from next year, Stobart said, targetting 5 million holiday-makers from 2022. S4 Capital, headed up by former WPP chief executive Martin Sorrell, confirmed it is in advanced talks to acquire MightyHive. "The potential transaction, if consummated, would be in line with the company's stated strategy of creating a new era, new media solution embracing data, content and technology in an always-on environment for global, multi-national, regional and local clients and for millennial-driven digital brands," said S4, stressing that there can be no certainty a transaction will occur. Emerging markets lender Standard Chartered is cutting jobs in Dubai and key markets including Singapore as it looks to curb expenses, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter said. Some senior roles are included in the cuts. As many as 100 positions may be impacted in Dubai although the number hasn't been finalized, the financial news agency said.In the international economic calendar on Monday, there are manufacturing PMIs from France, Germany, the eurozone and the UK at 0850 GMT, 0855 GMT, 0900 GMT and 0930 GMT respectively. In the afternoon is the ISM manufacturing PMI from the US at 1500 GMT. Released overnight, data showed the manufacturing sector in China accelerated slightly in November. The Caixin manufacturing PMI came in at 50.2 for November, beating expectations for a score of 50.1, which would have been unchanged from the October reading. It also moved slightly further above the line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.Japan's manufacturing sector, meanwhile, also continued to expand in November but at a slower pace than the month before. The latest survey from Nikkei showed a manufacturing PMI score of 52.2, down from 52.9 in October.In the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May has been warned she is on course for a "historic constitutional row" unless the government releases its full legal advice on the Brexit deal.Labour said it is ready to combine with other opposition parties to start proceedings for contempt of Parliament unless the legal opinion of Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is published in full.The DUP - which props up the Conservative government in the Commons - was said to be ready to sign a joint letter with other parties to Speaker John Bercow on Monday unless ministers back down.May faces a crucial vote in the Commons on her Brexit deal on Tuesday next week on December 11.