London pre-open: Stocks set for more gains after Friday's record close
London stocks were set for more gains on Monday following a record close at the end of last week, with crypto in focus after US President Donald Trump announced the creation of a "strategic crypto reserve" that will include bitcoin and ether, among others.
The FTSE 100 was called to open around 65 points higher.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "March is gearing up to be a seminal month for financial markets. Firstly, the big move late on Sunday was in crypto. President Trump announced an executive order to create a Crypto Strategic Reserve, which will include a variety of crypto coins, including some of the smaller coins like Sol and ADA.
"Trump said he wanted to make the US the crypto capital of the world, which has sent crypto soaring at the start of this week. Bitcoin rose sharply immediately after this news; Bitcoin/ USD rose to $95,000, although it has since given back some early gains and is consolidating on Monday. Ironically, a currency that was designed to be isolated from government interference and decentralised, is now reliant on the US government for its fortunes."
Brooks expects a broad-based recovery in crypto, with the $100,000 level an obvious target for Bitcoin.
"There has been a surge in activity in the options market, with a number of bullish bets being placed on further gains for crypto, now that President Trump has shown his loyalty to the currency," she said.
In UK corporate news, US-based Viavi Solutions has signed a deal to buy Spirent Communications’ high speed ethernet and network security business from Keysight Technologies for $410m and an additional $15m to be paid at closing.
The purchase is conditional on regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar year 2025, shortly after the close of Keysight's acquisition of Spirent, all three companies said in a statement.
AstraZeneca announced that the European Medicines Agency has recommended Imfinzi in combination with chemotherapy for approval in the EU as a perioperative treatment for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at high risk of recurrence.
The pharmaceuticals firm said the recommendation was based on results from a trial which showed that the Imfinzi-based regimen reduced the risk of recurrence, progression, or death by 32% compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone and significantly improved pathologic complete response rates.
Interim overall survival data also indicated a favourable trend, although statistical significance had not yet been confirmed, with further analyses planned.