(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to dip on Monday, with a rise in coronavirus cases in India and a stronger pound to drag on the blue-chip FTSE 100.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 5.06 points lower, or down 0.1%, at 6,933.50 on Monday. The index closed just 0.32 of a point higher at 6,938.56 on Friday.
An increase in coronavirus cases across Asia is weighing on sentiment, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda.
India's daily Covid death toll hit a new high Saturday, with hospitals facing oxygen shortages and crematoriums pushed to capacity.
India has become the new pandemic hotspot. Queues of Covid-19 patients and their fearful relatives have built up outside hospitals in major cities as another 2,624 deaths, a daily record, were reported in 24 hours.
Mounting cases also have forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in some areas just three months before the Olympics are due to open. The country's minister for virus response, Yasutoshi Nishimura, has warned of a "strong sense of crisis", saying current restrictions were not sufficient.
In a fresh blow to trans-Tasman travel, New Zealand on Friday paused arrivals from Western Australia, temporarily excluding the state's travellers from a quarantine-free bubble due to a fresh Covid-19 outbreak.
It is the first major snag since the two countries opened their bubble on April 18, almost 400 days after both closed their international borders due to the pandemic.
Oanda's Halley said: "India's situation dominated the weekend press, but across Japan, South Korea and Thailand and others in between, Covid-19 is undermining confidence in cyclical recovery that many, including the author, has priced into their H2 2021 outlooks."
In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index was up 0.5%. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY107.73, down from JPY108.34 late Friday in London.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was flat, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended in the green, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 1.1%, and Nasdaq Composite up 1.4%.
The US dollar was lower at the start of the week.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3902 early Monday, higher than USD1.3847 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at USD1.2109 on Monday, up from USD1.2062 late Friday.
"Ahead of an acceleration in the global data calendar and heavyweight US earnings releases this week, the US dollar will remain on the back foot throughout today as US yields remain benignly becalmed," said Oanda's Halley.
In the US corporate calendar this week, electric car maker Tesla reports on Monday followed by software firm Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet on Tuesday, iPhone-maker Apple and social media platform Facebook on Wednesday, and e-commerce firm Amazon.com on Thursday. Ending the week are results from oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron on Friday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,782.95 an ounce early Monday, rising from USD1,776.95 on Friday. Brent oil was trading at USD65.69 a barrel, lower than USD66.09 late Friday.
The economic calendar on Monday has the Ifo's German business climate at 0900 BST and US durable goods orders at 1330 BST.
The UK corporate calendar for Monday has first-quarter results from educational publisher Pearson.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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