London pre-open: Stocks seen up; RBA stands pat on rates

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Tuesday following mixed sessions in the US and Asia. The FTSE 100 was called to open 20 points higher at 7,693.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "As we look to today's European open, we can expect to see a modestly higher open, with the only data of note the February German trade numbers and EU PPI for February, both of which are expected to show a slowdown as economic activity slows down."

Investors will be digesting the latest policy announcement from the Reserve Bank of Australia, which kept rates steady earlier.

Hewson said: "In light of recent market turmoil, it's not too surprising to see the Reserve Bank of Australia decide to take a pause when it comes to its own rate hiking cycle, keeping rates unchanged at 3.6%.

"That decision became a lot easier last week when a fall in headline inflation back to 6.8% in February suggested that the spike up to 8.4% in December may well have been a one-off giving policymakers' confidence that a pause was appropriate."

In corporate news, the UK wealth business of Investec and Rathbones have agreed to merge in an £839m all-share deal, the two companies said.

New Rathbones shares will be issued for 100% of Investec Wealth & Investment shares, which would leave Investec with an economic interest of 41.25% in the combined company.

Elsewhere, high performance polymer solutions company Victrex said that chief commercial officer and executive director Martin Court plans to retire after ten years with the group.

He will retire from the board after the September 2023 board meeting and will remain with the company until the end of December "to support a smooth transition".