London pre-open: FTSE to open higher, lifted by Asia

14th Jul 2014 07:40

Lifted by a good performance in Asia overnight, UK stocks are set to get the week off to a positive start. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 18 points higher than Friday's close of 6,690.17."Last week's Eurozone fears sparked via the Portuguese banking system appear to have subsided and the we are now faced with a busy week of economic releases that seek to bring about a renewed focus upon economic strength and monetary policy," Alpari UK Market Analyst Joshua Mahony said. The monthly flow of data and market events in the US will pick up again this week, led by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's bi-annual monetary policy report to Congress. Her speech tomorrow will be followed by the release of the latest Beige Book, which is published ahead of each Fed policy meeting.Both of these events will be keenly watched given that there was last week a perceptible shift in economists' forecasts for Fed policy towards an earlier first hike in interest rates.Also due out this week are the latest readings on US housing starts, industrial production and retail sales.Here in the UK, all eyes will be on Governor Mark Carney's testimony on Tuesday before the Treasury Select Committee.In this morning's company news, AbbVie has made another offer for drug maker Shire, which the FTSE 100 group has said it would be willing to recommend to shareholders. The bid proposal, which comprises £24.44 in cash and 0.8960 AbbVie shares per Shire share, followed further recent discussions between the two groups. Based on the July 11th share price, Abbvie's offer has a value of £53.20 per Shire share. If a firm offer were made and accepted, Shire shareholders would own a stake worth around 25% of the new combined company. Rolls-Royce announced that Airbus has selected its new Trent 7000 as the exclusive engine for the new Airbus A330neo. The Trent 7000 is the seventh member of the Trent engine family. AVEVA, which provides engineering data and design IT systems, reiterated its full-year guidance despite a soft first quarter, in which it was hit by negative currency movements and the seasonal timing of contracts.NR