London pre-open: Stocks seen up as Omicron worries ease

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Monday as worries about the Omicron variant ease.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 48 points higher at 7,170.

Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley said: "US equity index futures are performing another omicron U-turn this morning, limiting the fallout in Asian markets of another fairly gruesome Wall Street session on Friday.

"The driver of the whip-saw return of serve omicron headline tennis comes from South Africa, where an article from the South African Medical Research Council, suggests that omicron symptoms were milder than previous incarnations, with hospitalised patients mostly having comorbidities. Of course, the sample size is small, but markets never let "the data" these days get in the way of narrative. Omicron variant milder = U-turn = buy everything."

Chinese property group Evergrande was also likely to be in focus as its shares tumbled to an 11-year low after it appeared to be on the verge of default. The company said earlier that there was "no guarantee" it could meet its obligations and that creditors had demanded immediate repayment of a total of $260m (£196m).

In UK corporate news, shipping broker Clarkson lifted annual profits guidance as the global economy recovers from the impact of Covid-19.

The company said it now expected underlying profit before tax now expected to be not less than £65m, with performance strong across all divisions, especially in finance and broking.

Media company WPP said it has acquired a majority stake in branding and design agency Made Thought.

WPP will integrate Made Thought into its AKQA business and join forces with the company's Universal Design Studio and Map Project Office to form The New Standard, a collective aimed at providing clients with "transformational design and creative thinking".