(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set rise at the open on Monday following a mostly positive session in Asia, but gains were expected to be muted amid the prospect of tighter lockdown restrictions in some parts of England.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 10 points higher at 6,026.

The positive call came even as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to outline a new three-tier alert system for England.

Meanwhile, Brexit talks remained in focus.

CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "The UK-EU trade talks will be in focus this week as Boris Johnson's self-imposed deadline of 15 October will be on dealers' minds. The UK Prime Minister stated a few weeks ago that if a meaningful trade agreement hasn't been set out by 15 October, the British negotiating team will leave the talks.

"The EU has mentioned a deadline of late October. Both sides have said that progress has been made but differences will still remain. In a way, the teams have to threaten to walk away or else the other side would take advantage. The prospect of the UK and the EU trading on basic WTO terms come 2021 is daunting but sterling has been holding up relatively well when you take into account what is at stake. Over the weekend, Mr Johnson told Germany's Angela Merkel that differences still remain with respect to the talks."

In corporate news, gambling group GVC said it had been given four betting licences to operate in Germany.

Following expected implementation in early 2021, GVC estimated that group core earnings would be cut by up to £40m on an annualised basis.

The German regulator last Friday issued licences for the bwin, SportingBet, Ladbrokes and Gamebookers brands, the company said on Monday.

AstraZeneca said that its long-acting Covid-19 antibody combination, AZD7442, would advance into two phase 3 clinical trials in more than 6,000 participants at sites in and outside the US in the coming weeks.

The FTSE 100 drugmaker said it received support of around $486m (£372.51m) from the US government for the development and supply of AZD7442 under an agreement with Washington's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

One trial would evaluate the safety and efficacy of AZD7442 to prevent infection for up to 12 months in around 5,000 participants, and the other would evaluate post-exposure prophylaxis and pre-emptive treatment in about 1,100 participants.