London pre-open: Stocks seen higher on positive Asian cues

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a firmer open on Monday, taking their cue from a positive session in Asia.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 58 points higher at 6,134.

CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "Equity markets in Asia are firmly higher as well received economic reports from China combined with the fact that Mr Trump didn't kick off a trade fight with Beijing on Friday boosted sentiment. European indices are tipped to open higher.

"A number of European countries are celebrating Whit Monday today so volatility is likely to be low."

On the data front, Markit's manufacturing PMI is at 0930 BST.

In corporate news, Sirius Real Estate said it was paying a final dividend as May rent collections were in line with April's 98.8% of normal working practice.

The Germany-focused business parks owner said it would pay a final dividend per share of 1.80 cents for a total 3.57 cents as full year pre-tax profits fell to €110m from €144.7m.

Balfour Beatty cancelled its final dividend after the Covid-19 lockdown had a material impact on the group's financial performance across its business.

The infrastructure group said it scrapped the dividend "in line with the current environment" but that it would buy £112m of preference shares due on 1 July. The company said its order book at the end of April was £17.4bn, up more than 20% from a year earlier, boosted by HS2 contracts.

AstraZeneca said that 'Brilinta', or ticagrelor, has been approved in the United States to reduce the risk of a first heart attack or stroke in high-risk patients with coronary artery disease, which is the most common type of heart disease.

The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant also announced alongside its partner MSD that 'Lynparza', or olaparib, has been recommended for marketing authorisation in the European Union for the first-line maintenance treatment of patients with germline BRCA-mutated metastatic pancreatic cancer.