FTSE 100 preview: Flat start amid US-China trade developments

The FTSE 100 is set to open flat this morning, with investors monitoring the latest trade developments between the US and China. In blue-chip company news, Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) is set to face investor backlash over pension arrangements for its chief executive.

Muted start ahead

IG’s opening calls suggest that the FTSE 100 will start trading at 7,345 points, flat in percentage terms. In the US, stocks fell on Friday, pressured by news that China officials had unexpectedly cancelled a visit to US farms this week. Asian shares meanwhile have mostly retreated this morning. Reuters reports that analysts have said that investor sentiment was fragile with civil unrest in Hong Kong, tensions in the Middle East and worries over whether the United States and China would sign a trade deal soon.

One Shanghai-based analyst at Tebon Securities told Reuters that the China visit cancellation had hit investor sentiment and could be a major drag on Chinese A-shares in the near-term.

At home, the FTSE 100 closed marginally lower on Friday, as investors mulled over last week’s central bank decisions. The blue-chip index shed 11.50 points to end trading 0.16 percent lower at 7,344.92. Losses, however, were limited by gains in UK-listed lenders and housebuilders.

Monday’s agenda

Today’s macroeconomic calendar is set to start with Germany’s flash manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for September, due out at 08:30 BST. On the other side of the Atlantic, Chicago Fed’s national activity index for August is out at 13:30 BST, to be followed by the flash US manufacturing and services PMIs for September at 14:45 BST.

In FTSE 100 company news, The Times reports that StanChart is locked in ‘very difficult’ conversations with its leading shareholders over its chief executive’s pay after an investor revolt over his pension. Elsewhere on the market, Thomas Cook (LON:TCG) has collapsed.