London stocks were set to rise at the open on Monday as worries about the Omicron variant ease.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 48 points higher at 7,170.
Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley said: “US equity index futures are performing another omicron U-turn this morning, limiting the fallout in Asian markets of another fairly gruesome Wall Street session on Friday.
“The driver of the whip-saw return of serve omicron headline tennis comes from South Africa, where an article from the South African Medical Research Council, suggests that omicron symptoms were milder than previous incarnations, with hospitalised patients mostly having comorbidities. Of course, the sample size is small, but markets never let “the data” these days get in the way of narrative. Omicron variant milder = U-turn = buy everything.”
Jarvis Investment Management Ltd offers a wide range of stockbroking and administration services and solutions. Their parent company, Jarvis Securities plc (LON:JIM) is listed on AIM.