London pre-open: Stocks to edge up after mostly positive Asian session

London stocks were set to edge up at the open on Monday following a mostly positive Asian session.

The FTSE 100 was called to open nine points higher at 7,494.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "When looked at in the round, Friday’s [US non-farm payrolls] report would appear to suggest that while there are plenty of vacancies, there appears little appetite to fill them. In both November and December, the number of jobs added has been disappointing, which would suggest that even with US employers having to pay up to get people back into the workforce, workers don’t appear to be in a hurry to return, despite over 10m vacancies, and only 3m fewer workers.

"This is something that could see further upward pressure on wages in the coming weeks and months and will certainly be food for thought for Fed officials when they look at the timeline for when to make their first move on rates.

"As such, as we look towards this week’s market focus and today’s European open, the primary focus is likely to be on this week’s US CPI numbers for December, which are likely to add further spice to the discussion with estimates that we could see the headline number come in at 7.1%, up from 6.8% in November."

In UK corporate news, manufacturer Rotork tapped Kiet Huynh to take over as chief executive officer with immediate effect.

Huynh, the managing director of Rotork's water and power and its chemical, process and industrial divisions, will succeed Kevin Hostetler, who informed the board of his plans to return to the US in August 2021.

Primary care property investor Assura said it had completed £105m in acquisitions during the third quarter using proceeds from its November fundraising.

The company said it had an immediate development pipeline of 22 schemes, where it expected to be on site within 12 months, totalling a further £166m, up from £145m in the previous three months.

Assura in November launched a £190m placing to fund acquisitions.

Chief executive Jonathan Murphy said the company had provided its premises as major hubs for Covid vaccinations and booster jabs during the pandemic.

He added that the urgent need “for high-quality primary care capacity to support the significant effort required to address the backlog from the pandemic will be in even sharper focus in the coming months”.