London stocks opened the week on a positive trajectory, mirroring gains in Asian markets, as investors anticipated a potential rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB). However, gains were

tempered by a significant slump in drugmaker GSK's shares.

As of 7:10 GMT, the FTSE 100 index rose by 0.7%, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 increased by 0.6%. Both indexes were on track for three consecutive sessions of gains.

Investors are closely watching the ECB, which is expected to reduce borrowing costs by a quarter point during its meeting later this week. Analysts also predict that the Bank of England (BoE) may follow the ECB's lead, potentially starting its own rate-cutting cycle. The BoE's next meeting on interest rates in Britain is scheduled for two weeks from now.

This week, investors will also focus on a series of economic data releases, including domestic manufacturing data for May, expected later today.

In individual stock movements, Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG.L) saw a 1% increase after Blackstone (BX.N) raised its offer for the music rights investor by one cent to $1.31 per share as part of a revised bid.

GSK (GSK.L) experienced a significant drop of 9.5% following a Delaware ruling that allowed more than 70,000 lawsuits to proceed over its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac.

On the other hand, St. James's Place (SJP.L) was the top performer on the benchmark index, jumping 5.6% after JP Morgan upgraded its rating on the stock from "neutral" to "overweight." Photo by Jürgen Matern, Wikimedia commons.