Britain's premier blue chip index is poised to open a shade higher after the bank holiday weekend, and after an upbeat close on Wall Street and the rest of Europe on Monday.
It comes after HSBC results and also ahead this week is the key US monthly job creation report this Friday.
On Wall Street, the Dow closed over 117 higher on Monday, while the S&P500 added 16 to 2,081 and the Nasdaq gained 42 to 4,817.
The German Dax added 84 and the French CAC 40 added 13 points. It came after manufacturing data showed some improvement compared to March.
In Asia shares were mixed with the Japanese Nikkei 225, closed on Tuesday, finishing 518 lower on Monday, after the Yen surged against the US dollar.
In London, FTSE 100 closed on Friday, over 80 points lower at 6,241 as traders cautiously closed out long positions before the holiday, but today spreadbetters at IG Index are calling the blue chip exchange to open around two points higher.
In focus today on markets will undoubtedly be the results from Asia focused heavyweight banking group HSBC (LON:HSBA), which has been involved in cost cutting, and which posted numbers for the first quarter, which revealed a 14% drop in profits for the three months.
Earlier this year, it said it would impose a global freeze on pay and hiring by the end of next year. Business in Asia, where it is increasingly more dependent, was gaining momentum, it added.
On the macro front, there is the latest manufacturing PMI data from the UK which is expected to show a small improvement to 51.2 from 51 in March.