28th Apr 2015 06:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices are set to open lower Tuesday, following losses on Wall Street, which failed to sustain an early upward move, with UK investors focusing on the release of the UK GDP for the first quarter due at 0930 BST.
"We saw US and UK markets make fresh all-time highs [Monday], helped by a rebound in commodity prices, as well as new highs in Asia markets, though US markets were unable to sustain their gains, closing lower, ahead of Apple?s numbers, and this weak close is likely to see a weaker European open this morning," says Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Wall Street ended lower Monday. The DJIA closed down 0.2% at 18,037.97, while the S&P 500 ended down 0.4% at 2,108.92, after having reached a new intraday high at 2,125.92. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.6% at 5,060.24, but also had touched a new intraday high at 5,119.82.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed up 0.4% at 20,058.95, while the Hang Seng is down 0.2% at 28,368.68, also having set a new intraday high at 28.588.52. The Shanghai Composite is trading down 0.7% at 4,494.31, after a new intraday high at 4,572.39.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 20 points lower at 7,083.50. The index closed up 0.5% at 7,103.98, having reached a new record high of 7,122.37 during the afternoon session, following the news that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reshuffled his bailout-negotiating team, sidelining Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.
UK investors will focus on the release of UK first quarter GDP later this morning.
"With the election campaign entering its final full week, today?s latest Q1 GDP numbers are likely to act as a reminder of the improvement in the UK economy over the last few quarters, even though we are expecting to see a slowdown from Q4?s 0.6%," writes CMC Market's Hewson.
On the corporate front, St. James's Place has reported an increase in funds under management in the first quarter of its financial year, after taking in GBP1.30 billion of net inflows, boosted by higher limits for individual savings accounts and greater flexibility for people saving for retirement in the UK.
The British wealth management and financial advice company said its funds under management increased by 7% to GBP55.8 billion over the quarter ended March 31.
BP said its pretax profit for the first quarter of 2015 was substantially lower than a year ago after its upstream division was hit by lower oil prices and reduced activity, partially offset by the downstream division which experienced a lift in earnings.
The FTSE 100-listed oil and gas major reported a pretax profit of USD2.27 billion in the first quarter of 2015, significantly down from USD5.27 billion a year earlier as revenue tumbled to USD54.92 billion from USD92.98 billion as its upstream division took a substantial hit, partially due to lower oil prices and reduced activity.
Also in the economic calendar Tuesday, in the US, the Redbook index is due at 1355 BST and consumer confidence is at 1500 BST.
By Daniel Ruiz; [email protected]
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