London pre-open: UK stocks expected to fall early on

15th Sep 2014 07:46

With the Scottish vote, violence from ISIS amd weak Chinese data all taking centre stage, the FTSE was expected to slide into the red at Monday's opening bell.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 24 points lower than Friday's close of 6,806.96."Global markets are facing up to a somewhat disappointing start to the week as growing uncertainties over geo-political factors provide the backdrop to some key economic releases," said Joshua Mahony, a market analyst at Alpari."Worrying data out of China on Saturday has driven the Asian markets to a poor overnight session and this is likely to follow on into the European open."The Chinese data came in weaker for retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment, with the latter dropping significantly lower than at any other time in the last decade.The weekend also saw the death of British aid worker David Haines, who was beheaded by ISIS, prompting renewed talk of military action and in turn dampening risk appetite.Meanwhile, the Scottish referendum takes place this week, with recent polls showing the outcome as currently too close to call."Many within the markets are beginning to wake up to the distinct possibility that the pound and UK markets could see some significant volatility as the week goes on," Mahony continued."For the most part, the markets appear to have factored in a vote for ‘No’, which appears to be the most likely event."In company news, Cobham has completed its acquisition of radio frequency provider Aeroflex, which was first announced back in May, in a deal worth $1,460m, or $10.50 a share. The group previously said that it belives the deal "represents a significant development" in its objective to "create shareholder value by delivering sustainable top and bottom line growth".UK software group Micro Focus International is to merge with The Attachmate Group in a $2.4bn deal. Micro Focus said that the proposed transaction "presents a rare opportunity to achieve a significant increase in the scale and breadth" of the business.