16th Aug 2022 06:58
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Tuesday, taking heart from strong afternoon trading on Wall Street, ahead of the latest UK unemployment data.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 23.30 points higher, or 0.3%, at 7,532.45. The blue chip index closed up 8.26 points, or 0.1%, at 7,509.15 on Monday.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2051 early Tuesday, down from USD1.2075 late Monday. The euro stood at USD1.0160, down from USD1.0184. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY133.35, up from JPY133.07.
"US markets also managed to claw their way back into positive territory after a poor start, despite a horrendous Empire Fed manufacturing survey, with the main focus this week set to be on the US consumer, ahead of retail sales data for July, as well as the latest quarterly numbers from US consumer bellwethers Target and Walmart, after their recent profit warnings," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented.
The latest Empire State manufacturing survey, which tracks the conditions of the manufacturing sector in New York, tumbled to minus 31.3 points in August from positive 11.1 in July.
But Wall Street brushed this off, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%.
Asian equities were mixed on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was marginally lower in late trade, while the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 0.7%.
Gold stood at USD1,780.83 an ounce early Tuesday, up from USD1,778.71 at the London equities close on Monday. Brent oil was quoted at USD94.13 a barrel, down a touch from USD94.22.
The economic events calendar on Tuesday has UK unemployment data at 0700 BST and Germany ZEW indicator of economic sentiment at 1000 BST.
The UK unemployment is expected to be 3.8% for the three months to June, the same level as in the three months to May, according to FXStreet cited consensus.
Wage growth figures will also be in focus, amid rampant inflation. Average earnings, both including and excluding bonuses, are expected to be 4.5% higher year-on-year, respectively.
In the three months to May, earnings including bonuses were 6.2% higher annually, while excluding bonuses, they rose 4.3%.
The UK's annual inflation rate was 9.4% in June.
The UK corporate calendar on Tuesday has interim results from Bank of Georgia. Authorised Rolex dealer Watches of Switzerland puts out first-quarter numbers.
Already out, miner BHP reported annual earnings growth.
In the year to June 30, revenue rose 14% to USD65.10 billion from USD56.92 billion. Pretax profit was 36% higher at USD33.14 billion from USD24.29 billion. It raised its dividend by 8.0% to USD3.25 per share from USD3.01.
BHP shares were up 4.3% in Sydney.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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