London stocks were set to edge up at the open on Tuesday following mixed sessions in the US and Asia.
The FTSE 100 was called to open seven points higher at 7,070.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “Having started the day in positive fashion yesterday, European markets saw the majority of the early gains slowly disappear, and though most did finish higher, it was a somewhat half-hearted affair. The result of the German election went entirely as expected, with little prospect of a new government this side of Christmas.
“US markets were similarly half-hearted and also saw a rather mixed session with some decent gains for the Russell 2000, and the Dow, while the Nasdaq and S&P500 finished the day lower.
“The weakness in tech shares appeared to be driven by the continued resilience in bond yields, which look to be being driven by higher inflation concerns, with the US 10-year yield nudging above 1.5%, and Brent crude oil prices now above $80 a barrel.
“While some are arguing that the move higher in yields is being driven by economic optimism, that seems hard to square with the reality that consumer confidence is falling back at a time when energy prices are surging, supply chains are buckling, and winter is on the horizon.”
In corporate news, Smiths Group’s headline operating profit from continuing operations rose 14% to £372m as revenue fell 6% to £2.41bn.
On an underlying basis profit rose 7% and revenue fell 2% with revenue growing in the final quarter of the year to the end of July. Smiths proposed a final dividend of 26p a share, taking the annual payout to 37.7p – up 8% from a year earlier.
Budget airline easyJet said its rights issue to raise £1.2bn was 93% subscribed, leaving underwriters to find buyers for the remaining shares or pick up the tab themselves.
EasyJet earlier this month unveiled plans to raise the cash via a 31-for-47 rights issue at 410p each, a deep discount of 36% on the airline’s closing share price on September 8.
Chief executive Johan Lundgren said the raising “will enable easyJet to strengthen its balance sheet and accelerate its post-Covid-19 recovery plan”.
