15th Apr 2014 11:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - US stocks are currently set to see a similarly subdued open to that of the UK and Europe Tuesday as investors await the results of a number of Wall Street big hitters due for release shortly, while updates from Ukraine continue to drag on sentiment.
A long-awaited "anti-terror" operation to root out pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country has begun, says Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov. The exact nature of the deployment remains unclear. Turchynov said that troops would be deployed to northern Donetsk near the Russian border.
US stocks staged a late-rally on Monday, boosted by the positive results of Citigroup, which came as a particularly positive surprise give the disappointing numbers from JP Morgan on Friday.
Futures trading currently indicates that the DJIA, the S&P 500 and the Nazdaq Composite will all open broadly flat as, with the US first-quarter now in full-flow, investors will have all eyes on the big names reporting Tuesday.
One of the world's biggest companies, and therefore somewhat of a bellwether for global corporate prospects, Cola-Cola, is due to report shortly. Analysts expect the group to report earnings per share of USD0.44, on revenues of USD10.55 billion. Pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson are also due to report.
Intel and Yahoo are the big names amongst the technology stocks reporting earnings Tuesday; these results may be in particular focus given the technology stock sell-off of recent sessions.
UK stocks have pulled back slightly from their morning to trade broadly flat heading towards the open of US markets. The FTSE 100 is flat at 6,585.22, the FTSE 250 is flat at 15,703.69, and the AIM All-Share is down 0.2% at 822.85.
Tobacco stocks are providing support for the second consecutive day, with Imperial Tobacco up 1.0% after receiving a boost from the news that it's planning to deliver about GBP300 million in cost savings. Unfortunately for the UK economy, the cost savings look likely to come from the closure of a factory in Nottingham, as well as one in France, leading to about 900 job losses between the two.
Technology stocks remain under pressure, with ARM Holdings, a big competitor of Intel, down 1.8% ahead of the US chip makers results still to come.
As well as the corporate releases, investors are also waiting for US consumer price inflation data Tuesday. Economists expect US CPI to rise to 1.5% year-on-year in March from 1.1% in February. Over the month, economists expect to see continues low price growth of just 0.1%.
In a busy afternoon, there are also speeches to come from Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart at 12.20, followed by Fed Chair Janet Yellen at 12.45 GMT, both from the Reserve Bank of Atlanta 2014 financial markets conference.
Later in the afternoon, the NY Empire State manufacturing index will be released at 1230 GMT, with economists expecting a rise in the index to 8.0 in March, from 5.61 in March.
More Fed talk follows after the close of European equity markets, with Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser both at 0800 GMT.
By Jon Darby; [email protected]; @jondarby100
Copyright © 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
IMT.LARM.L