London pre-open: Stocks seen lower amid trade worries; Comcast outbids Fox for Sky
London stocks were set for a weaker open on Monday as worries about trade resurface.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 28 points lower at 7,462.
On the data front, the CBI industrial trends survey is at 1100 BST.
London Capital Group market analyst Jasper Lawler said: "New US and Chinese tariffs take effect today so traders in Asia and Europe look cautious. Both continents are more exposed to global trade than the US. For markets, the new tariffs might have been acceptable because the economic effects will be felt most over a longer time period.
"It was the Chinese delegation of trade representatives pulling out of the latest round of talks that has dampened spirits. It’s been a slower start to the week than usual with markets in Japan, China and South Korea all closed.
"The real test will be when the Dow Jones opens this afternoon. US stock market bulls will try to push further into record high territory. It has taken the Dow the best part of eight months to make a record high this year. The risk is that investors who have ridden out eight months of losses at the hopes of getting back to new highs start to book profits."
In corporate news, Sky urged its shareholders to accept a takeover offer from US-based Comcast after it outbid Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for the London-listed broadcaster.
Sky said the Comcast offer of £17.28 per share represents an "excellent outcome" for its shareholders, at a premium of 125% to the closing price 6 December 2016, which was the last business day before Fox’s initial approach.
In an almost unprecedented auction held by the UK’s Takeover Panel on Saturday, Comcast outbid Fox’s £15.67 per share bid for Sky.
Randgold Resources has agreed to a merger with larger Canadian rival Barrick Gold to create a $18.2bn giant.
The deal will see the UK company's shareholders receive 6.128 shares in Barrick and therefore owning 33.4% of an enlarged New York- and Toronto-traded group that will be delisted from London.
AstraZeneca announced positive results from the phase III ‘DECLARE-TIMI 58’ cardiovascular outcomes trial for its ‘Farxiga’ dapagliflozin treatment - the broadest SGLT2 inhibitor cardiovascular outcomes trial conducted to date.
The FTSE 100 drugmaker said the trial evaluated the cardiovascular outcomes of Farxiga against placebo over a period of up to five years, across 33 countries and in more than 17,000 adults with type-2 diabetes who had multiple cardiovascular risk factors or established cardiovascular disease. It said that in the DECLARE-TIMI 58 trial, Farxiga met its primary safety endpoint of non-inferiority for major adverse cardiovascular events.