London pre-open: Stocks seen lower amid Brexit woes

London stocks were set for a downbeat open on Monday, taking their cue from losses in Asia amid worries about Brexit and trade.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 48 points lower at 6,730.

Back on home turf, Downing Street denied reports over the weekend that Theresa May was looking to delay parliament's vote on the Brexit deal, which is due to take place on Tuesday. There had been reports that May would delay the deal and head to Brussels to see if she could secure better terms from the EU.

May is widely expected to lose the vote, with Labour, the Lib Dems, the DUB, the SNP and several Conservative MPs against it.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclays dismissed the weekend reports and said the vote was going ahead as planned, "because it's a good deal and it's the only deal".

He also cautioned against new negotiations. "The French, the Spanish and others will turn round, if we seek to reopen the negotiation, and ask for more," he said.

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "It’s not just the markets that are facing a tough week, Theresa May will struggle to still have a job by Friday if she fails to get her Brexit deal through parliament on Tuesday. The PM has shown incredible staying power over the past 18 months having survived numerous hairy moments that could have toppled her but this could be a step too far unless she can convince MPs that she can deliver what they want.

"There are so many avenues that this process could go down if the vote fails on Tuesday and that uncertainty could drag on sterling which is currently clinging on for dear life around 1.27 against the dollar. I still feel that traders are reluctant to let go just yet on the stubborn belief that a positive outcome lies ahead, the only problem being that there could be some severe turbulence between now and then. If the vote fails on Tuesday, as is widely expected at this point, it could take 1.27 with it and the downside could be quite significant.

On the data front, industrial and manufacturing production figures are at 0930 GMT along with the trade balance and gross domestic product for October.

In corporate news, NMC Health said its cash flow generation was improving in the second half of the year, as the Gulf region hospital operator reaffirmed full year sales and profit guidance.

The FTSE 100 group said it had also won a new operations & management contract with the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs to manage a hospital in Seychelles.

Aerospace engineer Meggitt has signed a $15m (£11.79m) deal with aircraft maintenance, repair and modification company Turkish Technic.

The five year global agreement covers spares and maintenance activities across Meggitt's whole range of products and services from high-performance sensing systems to fire protection and control, pneumatic, fluid control, thermal management and electro-mechanical equipment.

IP Group’s portfolio company Avacta Group has agreed an ‘Affimer’ therapeutics development partnership and license agreement with South Korean biotechnology firm LG Chem Life Sciences, worth up to $180m across upfront, near-term payments and development milestones.

The intellectual property development company said Avacta’s agreement, which was aimed at developing Affimer therapeutics in several disease areas, could also result in an additional $130m in option fees and milestone payments should LG exercise their options for additional targets.