London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as May faces Commons showdown

London stocks were set for a downbeat open on Monday following the release of a slew of Chinese data and as investors look to the Commons vote on the Customs Bill.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 10 points lower at 7,659.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Having seen a positive end to the week for US stocks Asia markets have traded lower with the latest Chinese data showing that the Chinese economy slowed modestly in Q2 coming in at 6.7%, as concerns about the trade war with the US acting as a drag in output, along with a slow down on investment spending as fixed asset investment slowed to 6% from 6.1% in May."

Industrial production slid to 6% from 6.8% in May, though retail sales managed to rebound from multi-year lows of 8.5% in May, to come in at 9%.

Hewson added: "Last week’s political turmoil in the UK could take a new twist this week as parliament looks to vote on a plan that has already proved to significantly divisive within the Conservative party. Several resignations in from senior Tories and there is already talk of a challenge to Prime Minister May, as a number of Brexiters look to scupper today’s vote on a tax bill on cross border trade with the EU."

In corporate news, A US court has granted a preliminary injunction to prevent Dr Reddy's Laboratories from selling a generic version of Indivior's Suboxone Film for treating opioid addiction until a decision is made on patent litigation.

The New Jersey district court also ordered Indivior to post a bond to provide security to Dr Reddy's in case the court decides that its patent, number 9,931,305, is invalid and/or has not been infringed.

Aerospace, defence and energy components and systems company Meggitt announced a $21m contract with the Defense Logistics Agency in Richmond, Virginia on Monday, to supply fuel cell equipment for the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter until 2022.

The FTSE 250 company said its crashworthy, self-seal fuel tanks, which met the “ultra-rigorous” standards of flexibility, strength, impact and cut-and-tear resistance of US MIL-T-27422B, had stopped fuel spillage and reduced fire-related death and injury in survivable helicopter crashes to “almost zero”.

Finsbury Food said it expected annual profit to meet expectations despite what it described as unprecedented increases in the cost of labour and ingredients. The core UK bakery division grew sales 2.8% on a like for like basis, while the overseas division declined by 0.7%.