The Footsie is set to give back yesterday's meagre gains and a bit more, following the lead of US and Asian markets.
Spread betting quotes indicate a fall of 30 points or so for the FTSE 100, which closed last night at 6,165, up 19 points.
Oil stocks, which form a significant part of the weighting of the top-share index, are expected to be under pressure, as the price of crude softened this morning.
Brent crude for June delivery was down 0.16% at $37.53 in early trading.
“Oil is likely to remain volatile though as the prospect of a coordinated production freeze becomes increasingly less likely,” said Craig Erlam, at forex trading platform OANDA, alluding to the meeting later this month of the oil producers' cartel, Opec.
“The freeze could have been a first big step towards an agreement to cut production among all major oil producers but it would appear we’re some way from this. In the absence of either though, oil could find itself heading back towards its January lows,” Erlam suggested.
US markets retreated yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average off 0.3% at 17,737, the Nasdaq Composite down 0.5% at 4,892 and the S&P 500 0.3% weaker at 2,066.
Heading into the last half hour of trading, the Nikkei 225 in Japan was down heavily, 2.4% or 388 points lower at 15,735, as the strength of the yen weighed on sentiment.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was trading 302 points (1.5%) lower at 20,196.
In the UK, the big names set to report this morning include roadside recovery agency AA plc (LON:AA., British Airways owner IAG (LON:IAG) and struggling sweeteners maker Tate & Lyle PLC (LON:TATE).
Also reporting is retailer Card Factory PLC (LON:CARD), where the focus is likely to be on the growth in underlying earnings (EBITDA), according to Peel Hunt.
The market is forecasting EBITDA of £95mln, but Peel Hunt is a bit more optimistic, going for £97mln.
Among the small caps, computer game services provider Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS) could catch the eye, having recently raised profits guidance.
“On 1 February Keywords noted that it expected to report revenues and adjusted PBT [profit before tax] comfortably ahead of consensus market expectations,” noted Numis Securities.
“We think that Keywords is likely to have generated organic revenue growth of about 20% in the year, supplemented by acquisitions to c.55% total, and to have delivered stable margins. At the time of these results in particular we expect management to have a clearer perspective on major customers’ likely demand through 2016 than was available at the time of the trading update. We model organic growth in 2016 of 10%, alongside stable margins, which we believe is potentially conservative,” the broker said.
“We also continue to expect material acquisitions in due course, although we have no reason to believe that an acquisition will take place alongside the results,” it added.
Instem Plc (LON:INS), which provides IT solutions to drug developers, is expected to announce a surge in profit before tax for 2015.
The market is expecting profit before tax of £1.74mln, up from £0.21mln the year before, on revenue of £15.8mln (2014:£13.43mln). Recurring revenue should clock in at £9.6mln or more, up from £9.2mln the year before.
Net cash at the end of the year should be at least £2.1mln, up from £1.7mln a year earlier.
Recent news flow has been good, with the group announcing four new contract wins for its submit solution suite on the eve of the announcement of results, following on from last month's two contract wins.