FTSE 100 preview: Muted start ahead amid geopolitical news

The FTSE 100 looks set to start the first trading day of the week little changed, with investors focusing on geopolitical developments. In company news, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) has posted for a respiratory treatment.

Footsie seen little changed

IG’s opening calls suggest that the Footsie will start trading 0.09 percent higher at 7,355 points. In the US, shares fell on Friday as CNBC reported that trade talks between Washington and Beijing had stalled. The US, however, announced that it would remove tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium.

“We’ve had such a volatile few days in terms of pronouncements and interpretations of what’s going on with this potential trade war,” Jim McCafferty, head of equity research, Asia ex-Japan at Nomura, told Reuters. “And I think the news bites that we had over the weekend seem to indicate a softening of Trump’s approach toward tariffs internationally.”

In Asia, shares have been steady this morning, while oil has climbed higher, reflecting rising tensions in the Middle East as President Donald Trump tweeted that a conflict with Iran would be the ‘official end’ of that country.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 closed little changed on Friday, giving up 4.89 points to close 0.07 percent lower at 7,348.62, as investors digested corporate news. Just Eat (LON:JE) weighed on the blue-chip index giving up more than eight percent, following reports that Amazon was set to invest in the London-listed group’s rival Deliveroo.

Quiet Monday on the cards

There are no major macroeconomic releases out of Europe to guide the market this morning. In the afternoon, the US Chicago Fed index for April will be released at 13:30 BST. With the earnings season winding down, there are no blue-chips scheduled to update investors on their performance.

In other news, Reuters reports that BP will face pressure at a meeting to set tougher targets to combat climate change, the latest signal from investors that they want the oil and gas industry to do more to clean up its act. AstraZeneca meanwhile has updated investors on its Symbicort Turbuhaler treatment.