1st Apr 2015 05:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are set to open lower Wednesday ahead of manufacturing data from the eurozone and the UK.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 will open 40.2 points lower at 6,732.8. The index closed down 1.7% at 6,773.04 on Tuesday as investors repositioned at the end of the quarter.
On Wall Street Tuesday, the DJIA closed down 1.1%, the S&P 500 ended down 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite also ended down 0.9%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei trades down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng is up 0.6%, and the Shanghai Composite is up 1.2%.
Business sentiment in Japan was unchanged in the first quarter of 2015, the Bank of Japan revealed on Wednesday in its quarterly Tankan business survey. The large manufacturers' index came in with a score of 12, missing forecasts for 14, but unchanged from the third quarter. The outlook score is a little more ominous, suggesting that the index will fall to 10 in the second quarter - shy of forecasts for 16 after showing 9 in the previous three months.
Additionally, Japan's manufacturing sector decelerated in March but continued to expand, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed, with a PMI score of 50.3. That's down from 51.6 in February, although it remains barely above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The March reading also represents a 10-month low score.
China's manufacturing sector slipped into contraction in March, the latest report from HSBC showed, with a PMI score of 49.6. That was higher than the preliminary reading of 49.2, although it was down from 50.7 in February.
In a light corporate calendar, full-year results are due from miner Evraz, half-year results from online fashion retailer ASOS and a trading update from transport company FirstGroup.
In the economic calendar, there is Markit manufacturing PMI for France at 0850 BST, Germany at 0855 BST, the eurozone at 0900 BST, the UK at 0930 BST and the US at 1445 BST. ISM manufacturing PMI for the US is at 1500 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
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