London pre-open: Stocks to rebound as oil prices falls for fourth day

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was tipped to rebound slightly on Monday after a sell-off the previous session as oil prices retreated for the fourth straight session. Futures point to a 0.4% gain on the UK benchmark index, following a 1.5% plunge on Friday to 10,659.13.

"Financial markets are in a strange position as we move to the final weeks of Q3, uncertainty and volatility continue to grip markets, but the oil price is falling and European and US stocks are poised to open higher later on Monday," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

"Market stresses are concentrated in sovereign bonds, and European and US yields had another scare late on Friday, and moved higher. This suggests that Wednesday's rate hike from the Federal Reserve only provided temporary relief."

Oil prices fell again on Monday, down 1.9% at $101.88 a barrel ahead of the open in London - a level it has now closed below since 9 September - as concerns about supply disruptions in Saudi Arabia continued to ease. The East-West pipeline, which was significantly damaged by air strikes in recent weeks and temporarily shut down, is expected to return to half its capacity over the coming days, according to the latest reports.

In equity news, JD Sports Fashion is to break into the Mexican market, the British retailer announced, after striking a deal with Grupo Axo. The multi-brand retail distributor will operate more than 140 JD stores and e-commerce in the country under the franchise partnership, which is due to commence in 2027. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Drugmaker Astrazeneca received a double boost as European regulators issued positive opinions for two of its medicines - Klygefa for generalised myasthenia gravis and Enhertu for early‑stage HER2‑positive breast cancer. Astrazeneca said the EU's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use had backed Klygefa (gefurulimab) for adults with AChR‑positive gMG as an add‑on treatment and highlighted that, if approved, it would be the first dual‑binding nanobody C5 inhibitor available in Europe. Astrazeneca and Daiichi Sankyo also secured a CHMP recommendation for Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) as an adjuvant option for adults with HER2‑positive breast cancer who still have invasive disease after neoadjuvant therapy.