London pre-open: Stocks seen up on US-China trade deal hopes
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 12 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to gain on Monday amid reports of progress in US-China trade talks held over the weekend in Geneva.
The FTSE 100 was called to open around 25 points higher.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "The weekend brought good news. The negotiations between American and Chinese officials this weekend in Geneva went well - apparently - as US Treasury Secretary Bessent said that 'substantial progress was made.' The comments were more measured from the Chinese side, but officials there also said they had made 'sound sustainable development.'
"What exactly that means will be clearer later today, when the two countries are expected to make an official announcement. But the foretaste of de-escalation is giving a boost to risk appetite this morning - though gains in Asian indices remain moderated.
"Meanwhile, European and US futures are in the green and pointing to a solid start to a promising day. Nasdaq futures are leading the gains with an almost 2% advance in the early hours of the trading week, while pharma stocks are under pressure on Trump's plans to order a cut in US prescription drug costs."
In corporate news, online trading platform IG Group said it expected annual earnings and revenue to meet or slightly exceed the upper end of the current range of consensus forecasts after volatile markets drove higher-than-expected levels of client trading in the fourth quarter.
Anglo American said it has appointed Tom McClulley, the former head of its Peruvian division, as its new technical director.
In a statement, the diversified mining giant said its current technical director of two years, Matt Daley, has decided to take up a senior executive role elsewhere.
Victrex reported a 16% increase in volumes for its first half, prompting an upgrade to full-year volume guidance, though revenue rose just 5% due to adverse currency effects and product mix.
The FTSE 250 performance polymer specialist said underlying profit before tax fell 17% to £23.2m, largely due to currency headwinds and a slower ramp-up in China, although it remained flat in constant currency.
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