London pre-open: Strong gains expected after long weekend

28th May 2013 07:25

Following last week's heavy losses, markets are expected to open with strong gains on Tuesday morning as traders in the UK and US return to their desks after a long weekend.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up over 60 points from Friday's close of 6,654.Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets said that markets are expected to play "catch up" this morning following a fairly quiet but positive European session yesterday.He said: "The extra day for UK and US markets is likely to have been useful for investors to weigh up and absorb last week's events, and what they mean going forward for their asset allocation decisions in a world where the prospect of open ended quantitative easing from the US is no longer the done deal investors thought it was a few weeks ago, while a Chinese slowdown remains a growing concern."The economic data calendar is looking pretty light today with no major releases due out in Europe this morning, though eyes will be fixed on consumer confidence and home-price figures in the States due out this afternoon.Markets seem to be shaking off any effects related to Monday's losses in Japanese equities. AstraZeneca said it will continue to "vigorously" defend the intellectual property rights protecting its asthma medicine Pulmicort Respules. The company is appealing against a US court ruling that the patent protecting Pulmicort from rival drugs in the US is invalid. The US Court of Appeal has issued a temporary injunction blocking generic manufacturers from distributing generic versions in the US until the court rules on AstraZeneca's appeal.Wood Group has announced that its PSN business will continue to provide duty holder and asset management services to the Hummingbird Spirit floating storage offloading production (FPSO) vessel, under a new contract extension from Teekay. Beginning April this year, the contract continues until the end of 2013 and has the option to extend until March 2015. The two-year extension option is valued at $87m (£56m).Infrastructure projects investor HICL Infrastructure has completed two investments worth a combined £41.6m, taking the number of investments in its portfolio to 85. The move follows the company's placing in March to raise nearly £170m.