24th Mar 2015 07:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are set to open lower Tuesday as investors turn their focus to UK and US consumer price index readings, hoping for hints of when the central banks in the two countries will start to raise interest rates.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 17.2 points lower at 7,020.5. The index closed up 0.2% at 7,037.67 on Monday, a new record high.
Wall Street closed lower on Monday. The DJIA ended down 0.1%, the S&P 500 closed down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.3%.
In Asia Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei closed down 0.2%. The Hang Seng trades down 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite is down 0.1%, after nine successive sessions of gains, as the China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index unexpectedly showed contraction in the sector.
The manufacturing sector in China moved into contraction territory in March, the latest survey from HSBC Bank showed, with a purchasing managers' index score of 49.2. The reading was well shy of forecasts for 50.5, and it was down sharply from 50.7 in February. Now at an 11-month low, the index also dipped below the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
In the UK corporate calendar Tuesday, FTSE 100 building products supplier Wolseley reports half-year results. Soft drinks maker AG Barr, independent hospital group Spire Healthcare Group, and John Laing Infrastructure Fund all provide full-year results.
In the economic calendar, there is Markit manufacturing, composite and services PMI for France is at 0800 GMT, for Germany at 0830 GMT and for the eurozone at 0900 GMT. US Markit manufacturing PMI is at 1345 GMT. At 0930 GMT, there is UK consumer, retail and producer prices, while US CPI is at 1230 GMT.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
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