London pre-open: Pause expected on Greek concerns, China cuts rates

11th May 2015 07:35

UK stocks were expected to pull back slightly on Monday morning following a surge the previous session as markets reacted to the election victory by the business-friendly Conservative party.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 15 points lower than Friday's close of 7,046.82.The index jumped 2.3% on Friday after the election results came in, rising to its highest close since 27 April.A well-received jobs report in the States also helped sentiment, after data showed that the American economy added 223,000 non-farm payrolls in April as the jobless rate declined to 5.4%.However, the focus is likely to remain on Greece this week as the Eurogroup meets to discuss a cash-for-reforms deal with Athens. Greece faces a Tuesday deadline for a €763m repayment to the International Monetary Fund."Today's Eurogroup meeting is unlikely to yield an agreement on the reforms needed to secure the funds so desperately needed by Greece in order to stay afloat," said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.Investors will also be reacting to the news that China lowered interest rates overnight for the third time in six months in an effort to avert a slowdown. The People's Bank of China lowered its benchmark lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points each.Stocks to watchPlatinum miner Lonmin said it could slash up to 3,500 jobs as the company looks to cut costs, with the miner predicting continued low commodity prices "for at least two years". Losses more than halved in the first half, the miner said on Monday, though a 6.5% fall in platinum group metal prices hit the top line.Dignity saw sales rise by 23.7% in 13 weeks ending on the 27 March to £85.5m. That drove a 38.8% increase in underlying profits to £35.8m. As had been anticipated by the company, the number of deaths in the first quarter was very high, registering a 19% increase to 175,000. However, the funeral related services provider expects the full-year number to be relatively flat on 2014.In a trading statement covering the period since year-end running to 8 May, John Laing Infrastructure Fund reported underlying growth of 1.84% in the value of its portfolio to £849.8m.