London pre-open: Stocks seen up as investors eye rate announcements

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to gain at the open on Monday following a positive session in Asia, as investors eyed a slew of UK data releases later in the day and policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England on Wednesday and Thursday. The FTSE 100 was called to open around 40 points higher.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "There is a sense of hope in the market this Monday morning after Friday's PCE data boosted the expectation that the Federal Reserve is getting very close to signalling its first rate cut in September.

"The core PCE came in slightly higher-than-expected - steady at 2.6% instead of a further easing to 2.5%, but the rest of the data was either in line or lower than expected. Personal income and spending for example showed easing and inflation-adjusted PCE fell to 0.2% on a monthly basis.

"All in all, the data was read as a green light for the Fed to confirm that September is a good time to start cutting the rates."

On the UK macroeconomic front, net lending, consumer credit and mortgage approvals figures for June are all due at 0930 BST.

In corporate news, educational publisher and virtual learning company Pearson said it delivered a "solid" performance in the first half, with underlying sales and profits ahead of last year, as it reiterated its outlook for the next two years.

Sales totalled £1.75bn in the six months to 30 June, down from £1.88bn the year before but up 2% on an underlying basis when excluding results from its online learning arm sold last year and non-core operations that have been wound down. Underlying adjusted operating profits were up 4% at £250m.

Food producer Cranswick held annual guidance after first-quarter revenue rose 6.7% on the back of strong volume growth.

Premium product ranges performed "particularly well" in the 13 weeks to June 29, while easing input costs were reflected in selling prices, Cranswick said. On a like-for-like basis, revenue growth was 6.4%.