London pre-open: Positive start expected as UK markets reopen after bank holiday

5th May 2015 07:47

UK stocks are expected to rise on Tuesday morning as London investors play catch-up after the long weekend, tracking gains in Europe and Wall Street.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 38 points higher than Friday's close of 6,985.95."London markets look set to play catch-up this morning after a positive European session yesterday in what looks set to be a big week for financial markets, where the focus is set to be on the UK election, Greece and the latest US payrolls report," said MIchael Hewson from CMC Markets.US markets also rose on Monday as investors watched improving economic data and dovish comments from a Federal Reserve official.Data released during the session showed that US factory orders climbed 2.1% in March, slightly ahead of the 2% increase expected by analysts. This followed a revised 0.1% fall in orders in February.Meanwhile, Chicago Federal Reserve president Charles Evans said the central bank should wait until next year to hike interest rates with inflation too low and unemployment still high."I likely will not feel confident enough to begin to raise rates until early next year," he said.Stocks to watchOutflows continued to outweigh inflows at Aberdeen Asset Management in the second quarter but the fund management group still increased profits 25%. Despite a £11.3bn outflow of net new business, assets under management were 2% higher than a year ago at £330.6bn, with revenue up 20% to £605.2m and underlying profit before tax 25% higher at £270.2m.Pub group Greene King served up a 0.4% rise in retail like-for-like sales and total sales growth of 6.3% for its just-completed full year. As it nears completion of its acquisition, the FTSE 250 group said it saw margins deteriorate 40 basis points in the second half, though this was largely expected.