London pre-open: Stocks seen firmer as focus shifts to Brexit
London stocks were set for a firmer open on Tuesday following a mostly positive Asian session, as Brexit came into focus a day before Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50 to kick off formal divorce proceedings with the European Union.
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 23 points higher at 7,316.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya at London Capital Group said: "The Brexit Secretary David Davis said that the Britain will not pay the £50bn divorce bill as mentioned by the EU officials. In addition, the Scottish Parliament will vote today on whether or not to pursue a second independence referendum.
"Rising political uncertainties around the UK could shake up the pound over next trading sessions. The GBPUSD retraced from 1.2615, after having traded above its 200-day moving average for the first time since June 23rd Brexit vote. "
There are no major UK data releases due.
In corporate news, Tesco has agreed to pay a fine of £129m and agreed to a finding of market abuse by the Financial Conduct Authority for overstating its expected profits in its trading update in August 2014.
United Utilities said current full year trading was in line with expectations.
Group revenue is expected to be slightly lower than last year, reflecting the accounting impact of United's Water Plus business retail joint venture, which completed on 1 June 2016, partly offset by its allowed regulatory revenue changes.
Underlying operating profit for 2016/17 is expected to be moderately higher than 2015/16.
Thomas Cook’s winter programme is closing out as expected while summer bookings have increased with strong demand for Greek holidays and smaller European destinations.
The travel operator is progressing in line with expectations, although it is seeing some margin pressure in parts of the business due to increased competition.
In its first full-year results as a merged company, Ladbrokes Coral reported profits near the top end of forecasts.
Trading since the year end has seen mixed sports results, with a run of "exceptionally customer friendly" Italian football results hitting European revenues and margins, but the company said total group net revenue was still 2% ahead of last year and so it remained on target for the full year.