Rio Tinto taps Dominic Barton for chair, Qatar to invest in Rolls-Royce's nuclear reactor business

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 141.8 points lower ahead of the bell on Monday after closing 0.13% higher at 7,269.92 on Friday.

Stocks to watch

Mining giant Rio Tinto has tapped Dominic Barton to succeed Simon Thompson as the company's new chairman, effective from 5 May 2022.

Prior to being appointed to the role, Barton spent over 30 years at McKinsey & Company, including six as its Asia chairman, and was also named as Canada's ambassador to China in 2019.

Rolls-Royce said Qatar has agreed to invest £85.0m in its nuclear reactor business in return for a 10% stake.

The investment is being made by the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

Rolls said it was building a new technology solution to deliver affordable, low carbon, nuclear power. A single power station will occupy around one tenth of the size of a conventional nuclear generation site and power approximately one million homes.

Newspaper round-up

City firms are likely to revive plans to shift staff to the EU once Covid-related travel restrictions ease next year, a financial sector report has said, as the number contemplating such moves continues to rise. Of the 222 largest UK financial services firms monitored by accountancy firm EY since the 2016 referendum, 97 of them (44%) have confirmed they are relocating staff or operations to the continent, or are considering it – up from 41% in January 2020. - Guardian

A British biotechnology firm that supplies big pharmaceutical firms with synthetic antibodies for targeted delivery of drugs will float in London this week valued at £80.7m – giving its two founders a combined paper fortune of more than £33.0m. Aptamer Group was founded in 2008 by Dr Arron Tolley, 34, an early school leaver who later completed a doctorate in biophysics and molecular biology, and Dr David Bunka, a geneticist. Today, the York-based company has partnerships with the vast majority of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical firms, including Britain’s biggest drugmaker, AstraZeneca, and Japan’s Takeda. - Guardian

Household savings are to soar next year as more than a third of people prepare to tighten their purse strings amid a surge in inflation, a Telegraph survey reveals. The poll from FindOutNow reveals that 36% of households plan to save more as uncertainty over personal finances next year spirals thanks to rising taxes and the prospect of further rises in interest rates. - Telegraph

Rishi Sunak has just 24 hours to commit to a package of support for businesses or risk the permanent closure of 10,000 pubs and restaurants, industry chiefs have warned. Hospitality bosses demanded that the Chancellor end the “limbo” for businesses and pledge Treasury support immediately as venues suffer a dramatic fall in bookings and a surge in cancellations just days before Christmas. - Telegraph

Three executives at Daily Mail and General Trust are in line for a share of £27.0m as part of the deal to take the group private. Paul Zwillenberg, 54, the chief executive since 2016, Tim Collier, 58, the chief financial officer, and Kevin Beatty, 64, the outgoing chief executive of DMG Media, held almost a million bonus and performance shares, worth about £10.4m under the cash-and-shares deal. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Friday as a volatile week for the blue-chip index drew to a close

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.48% at 35,365.44, while the S&P 500 was 1.03% weaker at 4,620.64 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.07% softer at 15,169.68.

The Dow closed 532.20 points lower on Friday, extending losses recorded in the previous session after major indices reversed early gains as investors reacted to increasingly hawkish central banks.