13th May 2015 06:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are set to open higher Wednesday, with investors focusing on first-quarter GDP readings from Germany, Italy and the EU, as well as the Bank of England inflation report, which is due at 1030 BST.
"Germany...is expected to see a little bit of a slowdown from 0.7% to 0.5% in Q1, while Italy is expected to show its first growth in over a year, coming in at 0.2%, up from 0%. If all these numbers come in as expected the broader EU GDP number is expected to come in at 0.4%," says Michael Hewson, senior markets analyst at CMC Markets UK.
German GDP and CPI is due at 0700 BST and Eurozone GDP is at 1000 BST. France has already reported Q1 GDP growth of 0.6% on quarter and 0.7% on year, above expectations.
"Now that the election is out of the way, today?s Bank of England inflation report could well see Governor Mark Carney upgrade the central banks growth and inflation forecasts for the UK economy, over the next 12 months, as well as giving him much more free reign to be candid about the health of the UK economy, without any political constraints," writes Hewson.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 16 points higher at 6,949.00. The index closed down 1.4% at 6,933.80, driven by a further sell-off in bond markets and continued concerns about Greek debt negotiations.
Wall Street ended lower Tuesday. The DJIA closed down 0.2%, the S&P 500 ended down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.4%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 trades up 0.5%, the Hang Seng trades up 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite is flat.
In the corporate front, Tesco has closed its last six Homeplus stores and has cut around 650 jobs in the process, Sky News reported. Tesco said the stores in Hartcliffe in Bristol, Bracknell, Nottingham, Denton, Bromborough and Preston will close on June 27. Six other stores were closed by the company in March.
The decision brings down the curtain on Tesco's non-food retail business, which launched in 2005 as standalone outlets selling homeware, clothing, electrical goods and stationary products.
Also in the economic calendar, UK ILO unemploymenyt rate is at 0930 BST. In the US, retail sales is due at 1330 BST, while EIA crude oil stocks change is at 1530 BST.
In the corporate calendar Wednesday, SABMiller and Vertu Motors release full year results, while Barratt Developments, G4S, Mondi, Galliford Try, Premier Oil and Renishaw issue interim management statements. Compass Group publishes half year results. Novae Group issues a first-quarter trading update, while Partnership Assurance issues a first-quarter interim management statement.
By Daniel Ruiz; [email protected]
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TescoNovae GroupGalliford TryBarratt DevelopmentsVertuRenishawGFS.LPMO.LCompass GroupMondiSAB.L