(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 is called to open higher on Tuesday, tracking European markets in reaction to New York stocks extending their rally on weaker US jobs data, while markets reopened in London after a bank holiday on Monday.

"The week started on a positive note for the global equities which continue to surf on the optimism that the Federal Reserve's next move won't be a rate hike, which I think is overdone and that next week's US inflation data could be a rude awakening," said Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"But one thing is sure, the earnings season is going well and analysts project that the S&P500 earnings will grow 17% this year."

In early corporate news, BP reported falling profit annually, although it raised its dividend and started a USD1.75 billion share buyback programme as planned.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:

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MARKETS

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FTSE 100: called up 0.3% at 8,240.49

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Hang Seng: down 0.6% at 18,463.91

Nikkei 225: closed up 1.6% at 38,835.10

S&P/ASX 200: closed up 1.4% at 7,793.30

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DJIA: closed up 176.59 points, 0.5%, at 38,852.27

S&P 500: closed up 52.95 points, 1.0%, at 5,180.74

Nasdaq Composite: closed up 192.92 points, 1.2%, at 16,349.24

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EUR: down at USD1.0763 (USD1.0769)

GBP: down at USD1.2546 (USD1.2549)

USD: up at JPY154.39 (JPY152.89)

Gold: down at USD2,320.06 per ounce (USD2,324.35)

(Brent): up at USD83.42 a barrel (USD83.39)

(changes since previous London equities close)

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ECONOMICS

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Tuesday's key economic events still to come:

08:30 BST eurozone construction PMI

10:00 BST eurozone retail sales

08:30 BST Germany construction PMI

09:00 BST UK new car sales

09:30 BST UK construction PMI

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Annual growth in UK house prices quickened last month, while they returned to slight growth on a monthly basis, numbers from mortgage lender Halifax showed Tuesday. UK house price growth quickened to 1.1% year-on-year in April, Halifax said, from a 0.4% rise in March. Prices ticked up 0.1% in April from March, having fallen 0.9% in March from February. The monthly rise in April was expected to be 0.2%, according to FXStreet-cited consensus. The average UK house price in April was GBP288,949, up from GBP288,781 in March.

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BROKER RATING CHANGES

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Berenberg raises AstraZeneca price target to 13,000 (12,000) pence - 'buy'

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COMPANIES - FTSE 100

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Oil major BP said replacement cost profit was down to USD1.61 billion from USD8.67 billion a year earlier, but up from USD1.53 billion from the fourth quarter. On an underlying basis, it was down to USD2.72 billion from USD4.96 billion on an annual basis, and down from USD2.99 billion on a quarterly basis. Total first quarter revenue was down to USD48.88 billion from USD56.18 billion a year earlier, and down from USD52.14 billion in the fourth quarter, while first quarter upstream production was 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 2.1% from a year earlier. BP has started a new USD1.75 billion share buyback programme for the first quarter as planned, while it says a total of USD3.5 billion is still planned in share buybacks for the first half of 2024. It declared a quarterly dividend of 7.27 cents per share, unchanged from the fourth quarter and up from 6.61 cents a year earlier. Looking ahead, it expects upstream production to be slightly lower in the second quarter from the first quarter, while across 2024, it expects upstream production to be slightly up from 2023 on both a reported and underlying basis.

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COMPANIES - FTSE 250

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Rentable workspaces provider IWG noted a "strong" trading performance in the first quarter of 2024. It said system-wide revenue rose 2.0% on a constant currency basis to USD1.04 billion from USD1.02 billion a year earlier, or up 1% on an actual currency basis, while group revenue ticked up to USD912 million from USD911 million. Net debt fell to USD791 million from USD862 million, which it said was due to the one-off impact of a system change as guided at its full-year results in early March, with net debt reduction expected to continue during 2024. It also said there was no change to its financial outlook as outlined at it annual results. Chief Executive Mark Dixon comments: "The first quarter of 2024 produced good year-on-year underlying revenue growth showing that the move to hybrid working continues. We are delivering on our plan to grow in a capital-light way, and the momentum in signings, and importantly openings, continues to accelerate. We remain committed to our strategy of growing our network coverage and giving our customers a great day at work."

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OTHER COMPANIES

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Kosmos Energy, the oil and gas producer focused on Ghana, Guinea and the US Gulf of Mexico, said net income in the first quarter of 2024 rose to USD91.7 million from USD83.3 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to USD419.1 million from USD393.9 million. Net production was around 66,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 13%. Chair & Chief Executive Officer Andrew Inglis comments: "Kosmos has had an active start to the year, continuing the operational and financial momentum we saw in 2023. Operationally, we've brought four new wells online at Jubilee and first oil at Winterfell is expected shortly, both important milestones for the company as we target 50% production growth from the second half of 2022 to year-end 2024."

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By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter

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