London pre-open: Stocks to rise after Monday's losses; IMF downgrade in focus
London stocks were set to edge up at the open on Tuesday following heavy losses in the previous session and mixed sessions in the US and Asia.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 12 points higher at 7,245.
Investors will be digesting news that the International Monetary Fund has downgraded its forecast for global growth for this year and the next due in part to rising interest rates and political uncertainty.
London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said: "The IMF cutting its global growth forecast for 2018 and 2019 is not that much of a surprise given current conditions. The first downgrade to growth in two years comes amid capital outflows from emerging markets and increased trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
"The US economy is firing on all cylinders right now. This makes the IMF prediction that US economic growth will decline feel like a distant problem, but the reality is that once the boost from the tax cut works its way out of the system, the impact of trade tensions with China will be laid bare."
In corporate news, WPP has lost its long held contract as Ford Motor Company's lead creative agency, which has gone to its fierce rival Omnicom's BBDO agency.
Ford said the FTSE 100 company would continue to be in charge of its media planning, media buying, shopper and performance marketing, website development and customer relationship marketing.
Aviva said chief executive Mark Wilson was stepping down today but would stay with the group until April 2019 to help with the transition.
Both the company and Wilson said he had completed the insurer's turnaround and it was “time for new leadership to take the group to the next phase of its development”.
Wilson presided over the preference share debacle earlier in the year which resulted in a £14m payout to shareholders. He also raised eyebrows by joining the board of fund manager BlackRock.
Elsewhere, baker Greggs posted a jump in third-quarter like-for-like sales as it backed its expectations for the full year.
In the 13 weeks to 29 September, total sales were up 7.3%, down from 8.6% growth in the same period a year ago, while LFL sales were 3.2% higher compared with 5% growth in 2017.