15th Feb 2022 06:57
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening slightly lower on Tuesday, as traders monitor tensions between Russia and Ukraine, ahead of unemployment data in the UK and a producer price inflation report from the US.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index will open 15.0 points lower, 0.2%, at 7,516.59. The large-cap index closed down 129.43 points, or 1.7%, at 7,531.59 on Monday.
Global equities were hurt at the start of the week by worries about impending conflict. The US on Friday had warned that a Russian attack on Ukraine could happen "any day".
"Losses were widespread across the board as concerns over an escalation on the Ukraine-Russia border prompted a bit of a flight to safety, although some of the losses were tempered by a hope that a continued Russian willingness to talk would head off an incursion into Ukraine," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented.
Russia held the door open Monday to further talks on resolving its standoff with the West and said some of its military drills were ending, signalling a possible easing of the crisis over Ukraine.
As Western intelligence officials warned Wednesday could mark the start of an invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on national television the day would be marked as 'Unity Day'.
While the comments from President Vladimir Putin and his foreign and defence ministers seemed to offer hope of a de-escalation, the Pentagon said Russian forces on the border with Ukraine were still growing.
In New York on Monday, stocks ended largely lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.5%, and the S&P 500 lost 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite ended flat.
In Asia on Tuesday, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed down 0.8%, while the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.3% in late trade, though the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was 1.1% lower.
The dollar's gains on the pound and euro faded early Tuesday. Sterling was quoted at USD1.3531, up from USD1.3520 late Monday. The euro stood at USD1.1317, up from USD1.1300. Against the safe-haven yen, the greenback fell to JPY115.30 from JPY115.58.
The economic events calendar on Tuesday has UK unemployment data at 0700 GMT, eurozone GDP at 1000 GMT, and US producer prices at 1330 GMT.
According to consensus cited by FXStreet, the UK unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1% for the three months to Decembber.
Brent oil was quoted at USD95.85 a barrel early Tuesday, up from USD94.70 a barrel late Monday. Gold stood at USD1,878.04 an ounce, up from USD1,865.30.
The UK corporate calendar on Tuesday has annual results from Swiss commodities house Glencore and contract-for-difference provider Plus500.
Already out, BHP reported a "strong" set of interim results, leading to the miner declaring a bumper payout.
Revenue from continuing operations for the six months to December 31 rose 27% to USD30.53 billion from USD24.04 billion a year earlier.
Pretax profit increased 61% to USD14.49 billion from USD9.01 billion.
The robust half led to BHP declaring a record interim dividend of USD1.50, up from USD1.01 a year before and beating forecasts of USD1.24.
The results were BHP's first since its corporate unification as BHP Group Ltd with its primary stock market listing in Sydney.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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