London pre-open: Stocks seen up after Tuesday's losses

London stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday following heavy losses in the previous session.

The FTSE 100 was called to open up around 25 points, having closed down 1.4% on Tuesday, led lower by miners after investors were left disappointed that China did not announce further stimulus measures.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "Chinese authorities think that the country could achieve its 5% growth target with the stimulus measures that have already been announced, but investors not much so. On the contrary, the investor community was expecting that the government would announce a fiscal package of as much as 3 trillion yuan to complement the latest monetary measures to boost growth, but the Chinese authorities unveiled a laughable amount of 200 billion yuan in spending for next year.

"The worry is that the Chinese will throw money into the market without targeting troubled areas, and the lack of a fiscal leg to the Chinese stimulus package will hardly address the major issues and improve the EM giant’s suffering fundamentals."

In corporate news, Rio Tinto said it had struck a deal to buy Arcadium Lithium for $6.7bn, placing it among the main producers of the key component of electric vehicle batteries.

The mining giant said it was offering $5.85 a share in cash - a 90% premium to the stock’s closing price at the end of last week.

CMC Markets said in an update that it expects net operating income of £180m for the first half, a 45% increase from the prior year, alongside a profit before tax of £51m, a significant turnaround from a £2m loss a year ago.

The FTSE 250 company said operating costs, excluding variable remuneration and one-off charges, were projected to decrease 7% to £113m.

It attributed its performance to its diversification strategy, growth in the B2B segment, and steady client trading activity, as it prepared for the launch of its UK cash ISAs launch and made progress in onboarding Revolut clients.

Paper and packaging giant Mondi announced the acquisition of the Western European corrugated converting and solid board assets of Schumacher Packaging.

Mondi said the deal will expand its corrugated footprint in key markets and add complementary fibre-based products focused on ecommerce and FMCG to enhance its existing offering. The assets, purchased for an undisclosed sum, generated €66m in adjusted EBITDA in 2023.