SSE and Equinor to acquire Triton Power, Petrofac trades in line with guidance
London pre-open
The FTSE 100 was being called to open 31.2 points higher ahead of the bell after closing 0.69% firmer in the previous session at 7,258.32.
Stocks to watch
Scottish energy firm SSE and Norwegian petroleum refining company Equinor have jointly agreed to acquire Triton Power Holdings from Energy Capital Partners for a total of £341.0m, shared equally between the partners.
SSE said on Tuesday that the transaction represented "another step forward" for the two companies' existing collaboration, supporting the long-term decarbonisation of the UK's power system whilst contributing to security of supply and grid stability through flexible power generation in the shorter term.
Energy services company Petrofac said trading and expectations were in line with guidance, adding that its engineering and construction division was set to secure strong order intake in the second half and deliver backlog growth year on year.
Newspaper round-up
The UK's biggest mobile and broadband companies have agreed a plan to help customers struggling to pay bills amid the cost of living crisis, including moves to allow switching to cheaper deals without paying a penalty. The package was agreed at a summit at Downing Street, co-chaired by the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, and the cost of living business tsar, David Buttress, and attended by the top executives of the country's biggest telecoms firms, including BT, Virgin Media O2, Vodafone, Three, Sky and TalkTalk. - Guardian
Abuse and violence towards shop workers and service staff is on the rise again, research shows, with a quarter of those reporting hostility blaming the cost of living crisis putting increased stress on customers. Figures from the trade body the Institute of Customer Service revealed 44% of frontline retail staff have experienced hostility from customers in the past six months – up by a quarter from the figure of 35% in February. - Guardian
Staff at the Bank of England are to demand a major pay rise in the face of surging inflation, despite pleas for restraint on wages from their own Governor. The trade union Unite is consulting staff on Threadneedle Street this summer about securing a "decent pay rise" to cushion the blow of soaring living costs. Staff received just a 1.5% increase this year, far below the 9.1% rate of inflation reached in May. - Telegraph
Councils will be forced to ditch spending plans and draw up emergency cuts to public services after the highest inflation in 40 years sparks an £800.0m surge in costs. The Local Government Association warned that inflation will force local leaders to make cuts to frontline services and poses a "serious risk to the future financial viability" of some councils. - Telegraph
US close
Major indices closed lower on Monday following a banner week that saw the blue-chip Dow Jones register more than 800 points in gains.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.20% at 31,438.26, while the S&P 500 was 0.30% softer at 3,900.11 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.72% weaker at 11,524.55.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com