London pre-open: May, Macron meeting and US jobs in focus
Stocks are set to start higher with a meeting between Prime Minister May and her French counterpart, Emmanuele Macron, scheduled for later in the day, in sharp focus.
With just 11 weeks to go to the date by when negotiators on both sides want a deal to be signed, May is trying to win EU leaders over to her vision for Brexit.
In a boost to investor sentiment, overnight saw another strong session for technology stocks in the US as Apple's market capitalisation pushed past the $1.0trn mark.
Nevertheless, ongoing weakness in the Chinese yuan was reminding investors that a full-blown trade war might soon become a reality, with the US dollar gaining 0.46% versus the Chinese currency to 6.8746.
Against that backdrop, the FTSE 100 was being called to start the day 41 points higher at 7,616.
Very much on investors' minds as well was the US non-farm payrolls report for July which was set for release at 1330 BST, with the consensus anticipating an increase of 193,000, which should suffice to lower the unemployment rate from 4.0% to 3.9%.
Services sector Puerchasing Managers Indices were also due to be published in the euro area, US and UK, with the latter expected at 0930 BST.
Royal Bank of Scotland declared its first dividend in 10 years despite a inconsistent set of first half results. The taxpayer-owned bank reported a profit attributable to shareholders of £888m for the first six months of the year, which was down 5.4% on last year. It said the interim dividend of 2p per ordinary share was subject to the timing of the penalty agreed with the US Department of Justice.
Product testing company Intertek on Friday said it was buying US-based software provider Alchemy for $480m (£368.8m) in cash. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Alchemy employs approximately 270 people at four locations across the U.S. and Canada. It is majority owned by the private equity firm The Riverside Company. Intertek said it was buying on a cash and debt-free basis.
International Consolidated Airlines Group issued its results for the six months ended 30 June on Friday, reporting second quarter operating profit of €835m before exceptional items, up from a restated €790m a year ago. The FTSE 100 owner of British Airways said its net foreign exchange operating profit impact for the quarter was an adverse €66m, with passenger unit revenue down 1.9%, or up 2.3% at constant currency.