IG unhappy with new leverage limits, Babcock wins big Sellafield nuclear contract

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 24 points higher on Monday, having closed up 0.57% at 7,490.57 on Friday.

Stocks to watch

IG has called new leverage limits being proposed by the European financial regulator "disproportionate" and said the broader set of proposals would have an impact of between 5% and 10% on historic revenues. The European Securities and Markets Authority said it is considering measures to prohibit the marketing, distribution or sale to retail clients of binary options, together with restricting the marketing, distribution or sale to retail clients of CFDs, including rolling spot forex.

Babcock subsidiary Cavendish Nuclear, the UK's largest nuclear services business, has been awarded a 10-year contract to supply Sellafield with specialist handling and containment systems to process nuclear material. The FTSE 100 company said under the contract, worth up to £95m over the first three years, would see Cavendish Nuclear meeting all of Sellafield's requirements for the design, manufacture and supply of complex, bespoke equipment for the treatment and management of nuclear materials.

AstraZeneca announced on Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for the use of Tagrisso (osimertinib) in the first line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose tumours have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. The FTSE 100 drugmaker described Tagrisso as a third-generation, irreversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor with clinical activity against central nervous system metastases.

Newspaper round-up

The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) is facing defeat in its attempt to unseat the London Stock Exchange’s chairman despite a month-long campaign to force change at the top of the 446-year-old exchange. Before a shareholder vote tomorrow at noon, sources said that Donald Brydon was likely to muster enough support to retain his job as chairman of the LSE, the third biggest exchange in the world, despite speculation at the weekend that a second major investor would vote for his removal. - The Times

Theresa May will face a Cabinet row over Brexit after the EU warned that there is “no way” that the Prime Minister will be able to strike a bespoke trade deal with Brussels. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said that Britain must “face the consequences” of Brexit and cannot “cherry pick” and still enjoy the benefits of the Single Market after Brexit. - Telegraph

Price cutting by homeowners desperate to shift their property in a slowing market has reached the highest levels in six years, according to an analysis by website Zoopla. Just over 35% of the homes marketed on the site have marked down their price in the hope of achieving a sale, with the biggest discounts in the London property market. - Guardian

US close

Wall Street’s main indices closed firmer on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.58% at 24,651.74, while the S&P 500 adding 0.9% to 2,675.81 and the Nasdaq 100 finished ahead 1.2% at 6,466.32.