15th Apr 2015 05:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks are set for a flat open in London Wednesday, after Chinese GDP recorded its slowest pace of growth since 2009.
China's gross domestic product expanded 7.0% on the year in the first quarter of 2015, the National Bureau of Statistics said, meeting the expectation of economists. On an annualized quarterly basis, GDP gained 1.3%, below expectations for 1.4% and down from 1.5% in the fourth quarter.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite is trading down 0.7%, the Hang Seng is flat and the Japanese Nikkei is trading down 0.3%.
Japan's industrial production declined less than estimated in February, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. Industrial output dropped 3.1% month-on-month in February instead of a 3.4% fall estimated initially. On a yearly basis, production was down 2%.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 2 points lower at 7,073.3. The index closed up 0.2% at 7,075.26 on Tuesday, as UK consumer prices held just above the deflation line but remained at zero for the second straight month in March.
On Wall Street on Tuesday, the DJIA closed up 0.3%, the S&P 500 ended up 0.2%, but the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2%.
In the corporate calendar, there is a fourth quarter trading statement from luxury fashion retailer Burberry Group, and full-year results from JD Sports Fashion. There also is an interim management statement from oil services company Hunting and from LED technology supplier Dialight, and a trading update from Jupiter Fund Management. First quarter production results are also expected from precious metals miner Fresnillo.
In the economic calendar, there are German consumer prices at 0700 BST, French consumer prices at 0745 BST, before the European Central Bank's interest rate decision at 1245 BST and subsequent press conference at 1330 BST. Later in the day there are US industrial production data at 1415 BST and EIA crude oil stocks at 1530 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
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