Travis Perkins posts 9% year on year profit lift

London open

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 25 points lower than Monday’s close of 6,688.62.

Stocks to watch

Building materials group Travis Perkins posted robust first-half results in the face of continued wobbles in the plumbing and heating market. Revenues were 7.8% more than the same period last year at £2.94bn, with operating profits rising 9% to £182m before including profits from property sales, all in line with expectations.

RBS shares were sold to institutional investors at a 2.5% discount to Monday's closing price of 337.6p. The 630m shares sold raised around £2.08bn. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne hailed it as an “important first step.”

Engineering company Meggitt posted a 6% rise in first-half pre-tax profit as stronger-than-expected military revenue offset challenging conditions in the energy market. It also announced two contract wins on Tuesday. Meggitt was awarded a $42.1m contract by Lockheed Martin UK to produce ammunition handling systems and £10.2m in contracts from the UK Ministry of Defence.

In the press

GlaxoSmithKline has rehired a former senior Chinese employee suspected of being the whistleblower behind bribery allegations that led to a £297m fine for the drugmaker in China. – The Financial Times

HSBC could still leave the UK despite tax changes designed to make London a more welcome home for the bank, its chairman and finance director said, as they consider moving the giant bank's headquarters to Asia. The bank will make a decision on its domicile by the end of the year, chairman Douglas Flint reaffirmed, after announcing the review in April. – The Telegraph.

Homes in the majority of places in England and Wales are now more affordable than they were in 1997 thanks to falling inflation, low interest rates and rising wages. For the average householder their ability to buy a home has improved over the last 18 years, according to research from Hamptons International. – The Telegraph

US close

US stocks declined on Monday, as investors digested a bulk of economic data, including reports on manufacturing and personal income, while oil prices tumbled.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 91.66 points to 17,598.20, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost six and eight points respectively.

Tyson Foods plummeted 9.90% after the meatpacking group's profit fell short of expectations and the group cut its full-year outlook.

There was more positive news for Frontier Communications, which jumped 9.11% after its quarterly results beat expectations, while consumer and professional products producer Clorox climbed 2.72% after posting better-than-expected fourth quarter results.