(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, amid a positive performance from equities in Asia as investors hope for further stimulus measures from China.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 36.76 points, 0.5%, at 7501.3 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed up 25.41 points, 0.3%, at 7,464.54 on Friday, ending the week up 1.8%.

It is likely to be a quieter trading day, given that US markets will be closed for the Labor Day public holiday.

In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended flat to higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite flat.

Investors were still digesting a mixed US jobs print from Friday. The US economy added 187,000 jobs in August, ahead of forecasts of 170,000, but July's payrolls figure was revised downwards to 157,000 from an original reading of 187,000.

The rate of unemployment rose unexpectedly in August to 3.8%, while growth in average hourly earnings surprised on the downside. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% in August compared to July, below the 0.3% expected, although annual growth of 4.3% was in line with expectations.

"From the [Federal Reserve]'s point of view this is exactly the type of report they would have wanted to see to justify keeping monetary policy unchanged this month. If that trend continues, and there's no reason to suppose it won't then it's quite reasonable to assume that we could well have seen the last of Fed rate hikes for this economic cycle," said CMC Markets' Michael Hewson.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2609 early Monday, rising slightly from USD1.2604 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at USD1.0788, edging lower than USD1.0792. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY146.18, down a touch versus JPY146.21.

In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 3.0%. Financial markets in Hong Kong had closed on Friday due to super typhoon Saola.

Investors in Asia were eyeing potential further stimulus measures from China for its property sector, following a series of measures announced last week, which included reducing mortgage down payments and tax incentives.

News that battered developer Country Garden had won approval from creditors to extend a deadline for a key bond repayment, narrowly avoiding a potential default, provided some much-needed relief from worries over the property sector. Shares in Country Garden were up 13% in Hong Kong on Monday afternoon.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.5%.

Gold was quoted at USD1,945.12 an ounce early Monday, higher than USD1,938.09 on Friday. Brent oil was trading at USD88.57 a barrel, rising further from USD88.00.

In Monday's UK corporate calendar, there are half year results from Ashtead Technology and Belvoir Group.

The economic calendar for Monday there is a foreign trade reading from Germany. The week will pick up on Tuesday, with a slew of PMI readings from China, the EU, Germany, the UK and the US.

By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter

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