Pennon on track across both businesses, Essentra facilities knocked out by Maria

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 20 points lower on Monday, having closed up 0.64% at 7,310.64 on Friday.

Stocks to watch

Pennon, the water and waste group, said half year results remained "on track to deliver in line" for both businesses and it felt well placed for the rest of the year. After agreeing initial terms over the cancellation of the Greater Manchester waste disposal PFI contract, Pennon said "progress is being made on the final agreements".

Essentra confirmed on Monday that its health and personal care packaging sites at Manati and Guaynabo in Puerto Rico had been disrupted as a result of Hurricane Maria, although both sites remained “fundamentally intact”. The FTSE 250 firm said despite that, there remained “significant impediments” to the resumption of manufacturing, including staff and client circumstances, power availability, and infrastructure damage. It said the financial impact of the two facilities being out of operation was estimated to be between £0.5m and £0.7m per week.

Newspaper round-up

Britain’s biggest banks are braced for new restrictions on consumer lending as the Bank of England today prepares to unveil the results of its review of the booming sector. Credit cards, unsecured loans and car finance deals have all surged in popularity over the past year, leading Mark Carney and his colleagues on the powerful Financial Policy Committee (FPC) to investigate if there are any growing risks in the sector. - Telegraph

The far right stormed into the German parliament for the first time in more than 50 years yesterday as it capitalised on fears about the influx of migrants under Angela Merkel, who held on for a fourth term as chancellor. More than five million voters ignored appeals from Mrs Merkel and other mainstream leaders not to back the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as it came third with 13 per cent of votes and about 90 seats in parliament. In the former East Germany it came second. - The Times

Germany’s federal elections, whatever coalition Angela Merkel forms after the victory of her CDU party, are unlikely to make much difference either to Brexit or, ultimately, the European project. Analysts and commentators say Brexit campaigners’ hopes that with the vote behind her, Merkel – especially if her government included the pro-business Free Democratic party (FDP) – would back a favourable deal for the UK were always misplaced. - Guardian

Uber has hired top barrister Thomas de la Mare to lead the ride-hailing app’s appeal against its London ban, picking a QC who has successfully fought Transport for London (TfL) before. The company, which on Friday received notice from the capital’s transport regulator that its operating licence would not be renewed, has also drafted in law firm Hogan Lovells. - Telegraph

The credibility of an expert witness put up by the pharmaceuticals industry has been shot down by a NHS watchdog in a legal row over drugs pricing. Court papers obtained by The Times show that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has dismissed evidence from drugs companies as “plainly not independent”. - The Times

US close

Wall Street ended Friday’s session on a mixed note, with a threat from North Korea's top diplomatic official weighing on sentiment.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dipped 0.04% or 9.64 points to trade at 22,349.59, with the S&P 500 up by 0.06% or 1.62 points to 2,502.22 alongside it and the Nasdaq Composite higher by 0.07% or 4.23 points to 6,426.92.

From a sector standpoint, the best performing areas of the market were: Electronic office equipment (2.18%), Mobile telecommunications (2.05%) and Telecommunications (1.39%).

Speaking at a United Nations meeting in New York late on Thursday, North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho said the country could consider a nuclear test of "unprecedented scale".

Meanwhile, in a statement reported by North Korea's official news agency, Kim Jong Un said US President Donald Trump is "deranged" and will "pay dearly" for his threats. He added that his country would consider "the hardest level of hardline countermeasure in history" against the US.