London pre-open: Gold drops as focus shifts to central banks, earnings

20th Jul 2015 08:06

(ShareCast News) - Gold fell afoul of traders on Monday morning as the focus of markets shifted away from events in China and Greece and back towards central banks and corporate earnings, particularly Stateside.Economists' expectations for interest rates hikes in the UK and US have grown in recent weeks on the back of more hawkish rhetoric from central bankers. In parallel, long-term interest rates have been on the rise even as inflationary pressures remain muted and geopolitical risks arguably decline following the nuclear deal reached with Iran.As of 0724 BST gold futures for August delivery on COMEX were at $1,108 per ounce, down by more than 2% from Friday's close of $1,131.40.Against the above backdrop, the FTSE 100 is expected to start the day higher by between 9 and 10 points from Friday's close of 6,775.08.Greek banks will reopen their doors today and perhaps the Athens Stock Exchange too, nevertheless analysts expect capital controls to remain in place for months if not years.Significantly, speaking over the weekend Chancellor Angela Merkel told German TV channel ADR German she is open to further debt concessions for Greece but only after details of the latest bailout have been agreed. However, debt write-offs are off the table.Nonetheless, the Mediterranean country is expected to have no difficulty in meeting a repayment of €3.5bn owed to the European Central Bank and falling due today."The Greek story is unlikely to be as great a factor in the markets going forward with Greece appearing to have averted another serious crisis and the eurozone remaining in one piece. The next part should just be a case of formalities with the broader agreement in place and the Greek parliament already underway with the reforms," wrote Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda.Chinese stocks are moving slightly lower. Over the weekend Beijing moved to curb internet financing.Rolls Royce and Standard Chartered in focusAerospace and defence company Rolls-Royce announced two new deals worth more $2.23bn. The company has been selected by SAUDIA, the national carrier of Saudi Arabia to provide long-term TotalCare engine service support worth $1.3bn for Airbus A330 Regional aircraft. It's also been selected by International AirFinance Corporation to provide Trent 700 engines worth $930m for 20 Airbus A330 Regional aircraft.Standard Chartered has announced a radical management shake-up designed to restore the fortunes of the bank.Under the new regime, chief executive Bill Winters will take more responsibility as all heads of business units will report to him not his deputy Mike Rees, the bank said in an announcement. The restructure formed part of a previously announced goal of $1.8b in savings by the end of 2017.British Land said it has had a good start to the year, with strong occupational demand and lettings well ahead of estimated market rental value. In its first-quarter trading update, the company said its Leadenhall Building, also known as the Cheesegrater, is now 90% full, with 107,000 square feet of new lettings and 52,000 square feet under offer.