(ShareCast News) - London open
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 22 points lower than Friday's close of 6,579.81.

Stocks to watch

Ryanair posted a 25% jump in first-quarter profit on the back of rising traffic, as it said full-year profit should be towards the upper end of its guidance range. The budget carrier reported profit after tax of €245m in the three months to 30 June, up from €197m in the same period last year, on revenue of €1.65bn from €1.50bn, as traffic grew 16% to 28m. In addition, the company said it was raising its full-year 2016 traffic target by 3m to 103m.

The owner of The Economist, Pearson Group said it is negotiating to sell its 50% stake in the publication. Pearson, which last week sold the Financial Times to Japanese company Nikkei, said it was in discussions but "there is no certainty that this process will lead to a transaction."

In the press

Shareholders in The Co-operative Bank are considering buying the remaining 20% stake as they look for ways to recover their investment. Several American hedge funds are understood to be considering making an offer for The Co-operative Group's holding as they explore a potential future sale or merger of the business with one of Britain's growing band of challenger banks, the Times reported.

Nearly two thirds of British aerospace engineers believe that their companies face productivity problems that prevent the industry from competing properly overseas. The Times reports on research from accounting firm BDO and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers which suggests the problem is contributing to a wider struggle in what is a demanding global aerospace sector.

Buyers at Morrisons have attempted to secure one-off payments from about 20 suppliers in a potential breach of a government-backed code, with only "a handful" blocked by the supermarket's legal team. A government-backed code prohibits one-off demands and states that supermarkets must not "vary any supply agreement retrospectively", except in very specific circumstances, The Guardian reports.

US close

Wall Street ended the session and the week firmly in negative territory as investors reacted to a weak batch of corporate results and a spate of weaker data both at home and abroad.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day lower by 0.92% to 17,568.53, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.07% to finish at 2,079.65 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.12%, closing at 5,088.63.

In company news, Amazon jumped 9.8% after reporting unexpected profit and a sharp hike in sales for the second quarter late on Thursday. Shares in Biogen lowered 22% after the company cut its 2015 profit forecasts.

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