(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Monday despite mixed trading in Asia, as investors prepare for a busy week of corporate news.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 26.35 points higher at 7,230.90. The blue-chip index closed up 14.25 points, or 0.2%, at 7,204.55 on Friday.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended mostly lower, with S&P 500 down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.8%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.2%.
Asian markets were mixed following last week's gains with investors keeping a worried eye on a fresh Covid outbreak in China that could drag on the already stuttering economy.
China reported 39 new domestic infections on Monday, in an outbreak spread by a travelling group of tourists in the latest test of the country's zero-tolerance approach with just over 100 days until the start of the Winter Olympics.
The latest spike has forced authorities to reimpose strict containment measures, but there are fears of a wider lockdown that would weigh on economic growth. Recent outbreaks this year played a role in the below-par expansion seen in the third quarter.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.1%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.3%.
HSBC Holdings reported a sharp rise in profit in the third quarter, with Chief Executive Noel Quinn declaring the lender's Covid troubles are behind, prompting the lender to embark on a USD2 billion share buyback.
In the three months to September 30, the bank reported pretax profit of USD5.40 billion, up sharply from USD3.07 billion the year before.
Net interest income improved to USD6.61 billion from USD6.45 billion, while net fee income rose to USD3.32 billion from USD2.98 billion. Net insurance premium income slipped to USD2.72 billion from USD2.78 billion. As a result, total revenue increased by 0.7% to USD12.01 billion from USD11.93 billion.
Net interest margin worsened slightly to 1.19% from 1.20%.
Due to "confidence" in the outlook, HSBC expects to start USD2 billion share buyback "shortly".
HSBC shares were up 0.1% in Hong Kong.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3780 early Monday, firm from USD1.3773 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1658, up from USD1.1650. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY113.64, down slightly from JPY113.68.
Brent oil was trading at USD86.20 a barrel on Monday morning, up from USD84.77 late Friday. Gold stood at USD1,798.11 an ounce, down from USD1,809.80.
The economic events calendar on Monday has Germany Ifo business climate index readings at 0900 BST.
Ahead in the economic calendar this week, there are interest rate decisions from the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank on Thursday. The UK government's Autumn budget is on Wednesday.
The UK corporate calendar on Monday has third-quarter results from online trading firm Plus500.
Later this week, there are interim results from hospitality firm Whitbread on Tuesday and third-quarter results from drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday. On Thursday, there are third-quarter earnings from lender Lloyds and oil major Royal Dutch Shell, while bank NatWest posts third-quarter numbers on Friday.
In the US, Facebook will deliver its earnings after the close on Monday, while tech rivals Microsoft, Google-owner Alphabet and Apple report later in the week.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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