London pre-open: Stocks seen up after mixed Asian session

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Monday following a mixed session in Asia. The FTSE 100 was called to open 10 points higher at 7,458.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Markets in Europe look set to open slightly lower as we start a new week after US markets closed mixed on Friday, and the latest July trade data for China pointed to weak domestic demand.

"Any thoughts that the US Federal Reserve might have to start going soft when it comes to the tightening of monetary policy were dealt a blow on Friday when the July payrolls report blew through even the most optimistic of predictions.

"A blisteringly good number saw 528k jobs added to the US economy, the second-best performance this year, while June was revised up to 398k. There was more positive news as wage growth jumped to 5.2%, making the prospect of a Fed pivot on rate hikes even more remote in the medium term, as well as putting a 75bps rate rise in September very much back in play. The unemployment rate also fell to 3.5%.

"Rather unexpectedly, while US yields rebounded strongly, finishing the week higher and breaking a run of three consecutive losing weeks, US stock markets also finished the week higher as well."

In corporate news, shipping services company Clarkson reported a jump in interim profit, driven by its broking division. Pre-tax profit rose to £42m from £27.3m.

Elsewhere, recruiter PageGroup posted a rise in first-half pre-tax profit and revenue, as it hailed a strong performance across its geographies, disciplines and brands.

Pre-tax profit grew 80% to £114.5m, while revenues were up 27.5% at £977.3m.