9th Jan 2015 07:07
LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks are set to start lower Friday, as lingering concerns about the state of the global economy return to the fore after mixed data from China overnight pointed to a further slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
The FTSE 100 is called to open 8 points lower at 6,561.8, after a two-day run of gains.
Producer prices in China fell in December, dropping 3.3% from a year earlier, picking up speed from a fall of 2.7% in November. Consumer prices rose 1.5% on the year in December, in line with forecasts. However, for the full year, the country's consumer price index rose 2.0%, below the central bank's 3.5% annual inflation target.
Brent crude remains in focus and is steady at around USD50.85 after Wednesday's brief dip below USD50 a barrel to touch USD49.52 a barrel. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell to a low of USD46.80 a barrel Wednesday and was quoted at USD49.05 early Friday.
The focus Friday is on US non-farm payrolls for December, the main indication of employment over the Christmas period.
"An extremely positive number could cause some ripples particularly given the timing of a Fed rate hike, as it would suggest that any slack in the US labour market could disappear faster than anticipated, and risk the possibility of an earlier rate hike," says Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
German industrial production and trade balance figures for November have just been published, France publishes the same indicators at 0745 GMT and the UK numbers come at 0930 GMT.
Asian markets were broadly positive overnight, with the Nikkei ending up 0.2% at 17,197.73. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong is up 1% at 24,075.46 and the Shanghai Composite up 1.7% at 3,350.298.
In the corporate calendar, trading statements have been released from Laird, The Restaurant Group, Hilton Food Group.
By Ian Edmondson; [email protected]
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Hilton FoodsLairdRTN.L