The FTSE 100 ended last week with a fall, sliding 0.8% to close at 6,984.
Equipment rental group Ashtead was the day’s biggest faller, down 3.5%. Supermarkets Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s were also out of favour, down 3.4% and 2.2% respectively.
In Europe’s markets yesterday, the Paris CAC 40 lost 2.5% to 5,007, and the German Xetra Dax fell 2.3% to 11,413.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each lost 0.6% to 18,010 and 2,107 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.6% lower at 5,070.
Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose six points to 20,569, and the broader Topix index added 0.3% to 1,678. And in China, the Shanghai Composite rose 4.7% to 4,828, and the CSI 300 added 4.9% to 5,076.
Brent spot was trading at $65.04 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $59.73. Spot gold was trading at $1,187 an ounce, silver was at $16.63, and platinum was at $1,106.
In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5266 and against the euro at 1.3987. The dollar was trading at 0.9162 against the euro and 124.11 against the Japanese yen.
And in the UK, holiday park operator Center Parcs could to be bought this week by Canadian property group Brookfield in a deal worth £2.4bn. Center Parcs, which operates five parks in the UK is currently owned by private equity group Blackstone.