London pre-open: stocks set to plunge as China off the rails

(ShareCast News) - City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 142 points lower than Thursday's close of 6,367.89."European equities are set to plunge on the open as China goes off the rails," London Capital Group night dealer Jonathan Sudaria said.Sudaria said bulls were already slowed by a barrage of negative cues including weak economic data and political instability in Greece after Alex Tsipras quit."As the bulls lay bleeding out at the bottom of yesterday session, overnight, China has delivered the mortal blow," Sudaria said.August manufacturing and services PMI data from France and Germany was expected on Friday, while CMC Markets said UK Public sector borrowing for July is expected to see a repayment of £2.8bn, and improvement on the £8.6bn deficit in June.Stocks to watchSpire Healthcare said it swung to a profit after tax in the first half as revenue grew across the business, but the private healthcare company cut its revenue guidance for the year, citing weaker demand from the NHS. Spire posted a profit of £30.8m compared with a loss of £7.8m in the same period last year, as revenue grew 7.8% to £449.8m.GlaxoSmithKline has sold all the rights to its ofatumumab drug to Novartis for £1.03bn, extending a previous disposal agreement. GSK previously agreed to divest the drug's oncology indications and has now agreed to include its rights in ofatumumab for auto-immune indications, including multiple sclerosis.In the pressGreece is to hold a snap general election, likely to be on 20 September, just weeks after securing a new €86bn bailout deal with it international creditors. Fresh elections called by prime minister Alexis Tsipras on the very first day of the bailout programme, will plunge Greece back into short-term political uncertainty. - Financial TimesBritain and Iran will take an important step towards r-establishing full diplomatic relatons this weekend when Philip Hammond reopens the British embassy in Tehran after a four-year gap. Hammond will travel to the Iranian capital to reopen the mission which was close in 2011 after a mob attack. - Financial TimesPressure is building on Saudi Arabia from members within the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to agree to an emergency meeting to arrest plummeting oil prices. The Telegraph understands that Opec's secretary general, Abdulla Salem el-Badri, has spoken to Saudi officials on behalf of members within the group who are coming under extreme economic pressure from oil prices dropping towards levels of $40 per barrel.