London pre-open: Stocks seen flat ahead of busy week

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a muted open on Monday as investors looked ahead to a busy week for earnings and central banks. The FTSE 100 was called to open unchanged at 7,635.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "At any rate given the strong finish seen at the end of last week, markets in Europe look set to open the new week in a reasonably cautious fashion, with the fun set to begin tomorrow as the ECB gets first sight of the latest Q1 GDP numbers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the EU, with the flash January CPI data later in the week.

"At the end of this week the ECB could find itself in the position whereby it is trying to justify not cutting rates at a time when the bloc is in a technical recession, increasing the pressure for an earlier rate cut as soon as April."

In corporate news, Ryanair cut its full-year profit forecast as it posted a 93% decline in third-quarter net profit as higher fuel costs offset revenue gains.

Net profit fell to €15m from €211m in the same period a year earlier.

The airline now expects FY24 profit after tax of between 1.85bn and €1.95bn, down from previous guidance of €1.85bn to €2.05bn.

Iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo said Ukraine's court of appeal has confirmed a claim against it for around $125m as part of the long-running court case against its largest shareholder.

The company said it would ill file an appeal to the Supreme Court in Ukraine.

London-listed Ferrexpo is facing several court cases or investigations by Ukrainian authorities trying to recover assets from founder and 49.5% shareholder Kostyantin Zhevago.

It said its operations remain unaffected. and a further announcement would be made "as appropriate".

Biopharma giant GSK has been given the green light by European regulators to sell Omjjara, its treatment for patients with a rare type of blood cancer.

GSK announced that Omjjara, its brand name for momelotinib, has been granted marketing authorisation by the European Commission, giving the company permission to market the drug and make it available to patients and healthcare professionals across the EU and EEA-EFTA states of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

In a separate statement, GSK also said the European Medicines Agency has accepted its Arexvy drug, developed for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease, for regulatory review.

Tritax Big Box reported a resilient occupational market in an update, as well as stabilised investment yields. The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said it achieved 22.1 million square feet of UK lettings in 2023, with an additional 11.1 million square feet under offer, maintaining pre-Covid levels. It also added £7.8m of annual contracted rent through development lettings, actively managed its portfolio for optimal performance, and strengthened its balance sheet with significant liquidity and no near-term debt maturities.