23rd Apr 2015 06:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are pointed to a slightly lower open Thursday ahead of a Markit services, manufacturing and composite Purchasing Managers' Index readings from France, Germany and the eurozone.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 will open 6.7 points lower at 7,021.5. The index closed down 0.5% at 7,028.24 on Wednesday, as Tesco posted disastrous full-year results, dragging down other UK supermarkets.
On Wall Street on Wednesday, the DJIA and the S&P 500 both ended up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.4%.
In Asia Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei is up 0.1% pushing onto new 15-year highs. The Hang Seng is up 0.5%, and the Shanghai Composite is up 0.6%.
In the UK corporate calendar, there are trading statements from defence engineer Meggitt and media buying giant WPP, an interim management statement from housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, and first-quarter production results from miner Anglo American. Fellow miner Acacia Mining issues first quarter results, and bookmaker William Hill and IT infrastructure services provider Computacenter both release first quarter interim management statements. Pace also releases an interim management statement.
In the economic calendar, there are preliminary Markit services, composite and manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index readings from France at 0800 BST, Germany at 0830 BST, and the eurozone at 0900 BST. US Markit manufacturing PMI is at 1345 BST. There is also UK retail sales and public sector net borrowing at 0930 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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