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5pm: London closes higher

London’s FTSE 100 blue chip index built on Friday’s uplift with a strong session, closing up 121.96 points, or 1.7% at 7,473.03.

Market watchers were unable to explain the surge, suggesting it was as much due to a lack of anything to bring it down.

Retailers were among the top performers, helped by the energy price cap helping to give consumer confidence a boost.

Tesco shares finished 5.5% higher. Sainsbury was 5.3% higher, while B&G and Screwfix owner Kingfisher topped the blue-chip index to close up 6.5%.

In the FTSE 250, Serco closed down 6.5%. The outsourcer said its chief executive Rupert Soames will step down from at the end of December, and promoted division head Mark Irwin as his successor.

Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.8%, the S&P 500 index up 1.0%, and the Nasdaq Composite also up 1.0%.

The US consumer price index reading on Tuesday is expected to show the annual US inflation rate softening to 8.1% in August from 8.5% in July, according to FXStreet. In June, the rate had topped 9%.

7am: Beeks Financial Cloud

Beeks Financial Cloud Group, the Scotland-based provider of cloud computing for financial markets, has announced that the first customer for its newly-launched Exchange Cloud offering is ICE Global Network, part of ICE Data Services, a division of Intercontinental Exchange, the world’s largest exchange group and owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

In a trading update Beeks said it has delivered a record trading performance in the year, in line with upwardly revised market expectations. 

The group has exited the year with annualised committed monthly recurring revenue of over £19.3m, growth of 40% on the prior year, providing a strong basis for further growth in FY23.

It expects to release its audited final results for the 12 months ended 30 June in early October.

7am: GDP growth below forecast

Britain’s economy grew by less than expected in July, with the construction sector hit by the leap in inflation, official data showed on Monday.

Gross domestic product grew by 0.2% from June against expectations of 0.4%.

In the three months to July, GDP was flat compared with the previous three-month period.

See: Queen’s funeral bank holiday may hit GDP

Global markets

Sterling was quoted at $1.1616 early Monday ahead of the data, due before the equity market opens at 0700 BST, from $1.1580 at the London equities close on Friday.

The FTSE 100 index was tipped to build on Friday’s 1.2% uplift.

In Asia early today, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 1.0%. Financial markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong were shut on Monday for the mid-Autumn festival, re-opening on Tuesday.