14th Nov 2014 07:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are set to open flat to slightly lower Friday, with release of German growth data showing the eurozone's largest economy grew only very slightly in the third quarter.
Futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 1 point lower at 6,635. The index closed Thursday at 6,635.45.
Germany narrowly avoided a slip into recession as output increased by 0.1% in the quarter, as expected, putting the annual growth at 1.2% from 0.8% previously. France is expected to have grown 0.2% so the biggest drag to the eurozone will come from Italy, which is expected to have contracted by 0.2% putting it back into recession.
CMC Markets says eurozone inflation remains very much subdued, but higher consumer prices reported for October in France and Spain on Thursday could mean a higher-than-expected aggregate Eurozone CPI number on Friday which would be a welcome relief for the ECB. Consensus expectations are for 0% price growth in the month.
Aggreko reported a 6% rise in underlying revenue in the third quarter, but a strong pound lowered reported revenue by 3%. The company said capital expenditure in 2014 to be around GBP235 million and first half 2015 expenditure is expected to to be in the region of GBP140 million. The company said underlying trading profit for the full year is expected to be similar to 2013.
IMI said underlying revenue for the four months to the end of October was 1% ahead of last year and 2% higher year to date. On a reported basis, revenue was down 6% for the four month period and 5% down year-to-date, reflecting the ongoing adverse impact of exchange rate movements. The engineering company also it will buy B&R Holding GmbH for an enterprise value of EUR152.6 million and Bopp & Reuther will become part of IMI's Critical Engineering division.
Balfour Beatty said it has reached an agreement to sell parts of its German Rail business to Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group of Austria. The businesses have been sold for gross proceeds of GBP6 million, but net cash consideration will be approximately zero once the cash transferring with the business is taken in account.
US retail sales for October, due at 1330 GMT, are forecast to rise 0.2%, up from the 0.3% drop in September.
US trading finished modestly higher Thursday, with the DJIA ending up 0.2% on the day and the S&P 500 closing up 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.1%.
In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei closed up 0.6%, another new seven-year high. The Hang Seng is up 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite is down 0.3%.
Brent crude continues to slide to new four-year lows, touching USD76.74 in early trade.
By Ian Edmondson; [email protected]
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