16th Mar 2015 07:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices are set to open higher Monday, as markets start a week in which central banks will take stage centre, with ECB President Mario Draghi speaking Monday in Frankfurt, but with the main focus on the US Federal Reserve rate meeting ending on Wednesday.
"Markets appear to have got it into their heads that this week?s Federal Reserve rate meeting could well be the precursor to a change in their forward guidance, which some think could be a precursor to a potential rate rise this summer," says Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
Also among central banks news expected this week, the Bank of Japan monetary policy decision is due on Tuesday, while Bank of England minutes from its last meeting are on Wednesday. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne presents the UK government budget on Wednesday as well.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 23.5 points higher at 6,763.5. The index lost 0.3% on Friday to 6,740.17, down 2.5% for the week as a whole, meaning London's blue-chip index posted its biggest weekly drop since early December, with mining and oil-related stocks coming under pressure as oil prices fell and the US dollar continued to strengthen against major currency pairs.
The euro and the pound are slightly higher against the dollar Monday morning, with the eurozone currency quoted at USD1.0509 and the pound quoted at USD1.4771.
The average asking price for a house in the UK was up 1.0% on month in March, property tracking website Rightmove said on Monday. That missed forecasts for an increase of 1.9%, and it was down from the 2.1% gain in February. On a yearly basis, prices climbed 5.4% - also below expectations for 6.5% and down from 6.6% in the previous month. A decline in prices in the London market weighed on the overall index.
The UK government has launched a review of the business rates system, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced on Monday. The review, which is set to report back by the government budget in 2016, will examine the structure of the current system, a business property tax which is currently paid on an annual basis on 1.8 million properties in England.
The review will consider how businesses use property, what the UK can learn from the systems in use in other countries, and how the system could be modernised to better reflect changes in the value of property, the Treasury said in a statement.
Wall Street ended lower Friday. The DJIA closed down 0.8%, the S&P 500 ended down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.4%.
In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed flat and the Hang Seng trades up 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up 2.2%.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD54.65 a barrel Monday, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate is quoted at USD44.19 a barrel. Gold is quoted early Monday at USD1,162.15 an ounce.
In the corporate calendar Monday, Tribal Group, Real Estate Investors, EKF Diagnostics Holdings, Brady, Smart Metering Systems and Petards Group released full-year results.
In the economic calendar, German Buba monthly report is at 1100 GMT, while UK CB Leading Economic Index is at 1330 GMT. At 1845 GMT, European Central Bank's President Mario Draghi will speak in SZ Finance Day 2015 in Frankfurt. In the US, NY Empire State Manufacturing index is at 1230 GMT, Industrial production is at 1315 GMT, while NAHB Housing Market Index is at 1400 GMT.
By Daniel Ruiz; [email protected]
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