London stocks were set to fall at the open on Monday as investors mulled political developments in Iran and news that Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell is being investigated by the Department of Justice.
The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 12 points.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "This week, Jerome Powell is on the front page of Bloomberg news as the DOJ has targeted him and the Fed over his congressional testimony on ongoing renovations of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) headquarters. That came on Friday.
"Powell hit back, saying this has little to do with the renovations, and more to do with Trump being unhappy with the Fed's rate-setting policies - specifically, that they are not cutting rates as aggressively as he would like. Powell highlighted that the key issue is whether the Fed can continue setting interest rates based on economic data and evidence, or whether monetary policy will be directed by political pressure.
"I'm afraid we may be moving toward the second scenario. If the Fed becomes a political tool, with its chair replaced by a government puppet, that could further weaken appetite for the US dollar and US bonds."
In UK corporate news, the chief executive of British Land is to leave after five years in the role, it was announced on Monday, to head up a pan-European logistics firm.
Simon Carter, who has been at British Land for 18 years, will join GIC-owned P3 Logistics Parks as chief executive following a 12-month notice period. British Land said it would now start a "full process" to appoint his successor.
Plus500 said in a trading update that FY2025 revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were ahead of market views.
Revenue was about $792m and EBITDA was $348m, above market expectations of $757.7m and $345.8m, respectively.
"The company's board of directors remains confident in the outlook for Plus500 in 2026 and beyond, and expects the group to continue making strong financial and strategic progress alongside delivering further shareholder returns," it said.
Elsewhere, life sciences investor RTW Biotech Opportunities said its portfolio company Aktis Oncology had raised $318m via an IPO.
Aktis offered 17.65 million shares at $18 each, representing a 2.6% step-up from RTW Bio's prior holding value at 30 November and a18.3% step-up from the cost at the time of purchase in September 2024.
Aktis started trading on the Nasdaq global select market on 9 January, where the stock traded up 24.4% to close at $22.40 per share.