London pre-open: Strong session in Asia to lift FTSE early on

22nd Jul 2014 07:45

Tracking gains seen in Asia overnight, UK stocks are expected to recover from yesterday's losses with a rise of around 25 points above yesterday's close of 6,728.44.Growing geopolitical tensions in both Russia and Gaza pushed both UK and US stocks into the red in yesterday's session.The continued conflict between Israel and Gaza has led to the killing of dozens of Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, with the death toll having now exceeded 500 during the two weeks of clashes, according to Gaza's health ministry.Meanwhile, in the latest development in the Ukraine-Russian conflict, pro-Russian rebels have handed over the black boxes from flight MH17 and allowed the train carrying bodies of victims to leave for the Netherlands.That came after Russian President Vladimir Putin bowed to substantial pressure from global leaders and called on the rebels to allow investigators access to the crash site. Today's session is set to be a busy one for corporate news, although relatively quiet on the macro economic front. Over in the US, the latest inflation report is expected to show consumer prices rose by 2.1% year-on-year in June, while existing home sales are predicted to show an increase of 2% in June compared to May, when it climbed 4.9%.In this morning's company news, tougher competition in the corporate market during the first quarter has resulted in Royal Mail enduring weaker-than-expected performance in UK parcels, meaning full-year revenues are likely to be lower than expected. The recently privatised group said changes to Amazon's minimum order level for free delivery and expansion of its own delivery network had been key in reducing Royal Mail's addressable market volumes.Anglo American has announced that the bulk of its iron ore division, which accounts for around half of group profits, saw earnings drop in the first half. The 69.7%-owned Kumba Iron Ore unit, a South African supplier of seaborne iron ore which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, contributed just $409m to Anglo's underlying earnings in the six months to June 30th, down from $579m the year before.Galliford Try's Miller Construction business has reached financial close on a £35.4m project to construct the new Inverness Royal Academy and a £15.4m project to construct Noss Primary School in Wick. The projects are being constructed for Hub North Scotland, the public/private development company working in partnership with The Highland Council.NR