22nd Jan 2015 10:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices are mixed Thursday, as investors cautiously await a long-anticipated move by the European Central Bank to add sovereign bond buying to its arsenal of stimulus measures.
The FTSE 100 is 0.2% higher at 6,738.75 ahead of the ECB statement on interest rates and quantitative easing. The FTSE 250 is also up 0.2% at 16,290.18 but the AIM-All-Share index is fractionally lower, down less than 0.1% at 699.67.
No change is expected for the ECB's 0.05% interest rate at 1245 GMT but President Mario Draghi is widely expected to say in his press conference at 1330 GMT that the bank will start buying sovereign debt in a bid to boost the moribund European economy. After clearing a legal hurdle last week, moves by the Swiss and Danish central banks in the past week also have been interpreted as precursors to the ECB broadening its policy measures.
"It?s all about the ECB today, as the quantitative easing question will finally be answered," says Alastair McCaig at IG.
The CAC-40 in France and Germany's DAX are down 0.3% as investors await the decision.
Reports suggest that the European Central Bank's executive board has proposed bond purchases of about EUR50 billion a month lasting for at least a year.
US futures are pointing to a positive start on Wall Street. The DJIA is called to open up 0.2% , the S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.2%.
Weekly jobless claims in the US are due at 1330 GMT and euro area preliminary consumer confidence at 1500 GMT.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.3% at 17,329.02. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended up 0.7% at 24,522.63, and the Shanghai Composite finished 0.6% higher at 3,343.344.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD48.90 a barrel Thursday, up from last week's low of USD45.16, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate is quoted at USD47.39 a barrel. Gold is hovering below the psychologically important USD1,300 level passed Wednesday for the first time since last summer. Mid-morning Thursday it is quoted at USD1,287.35 an ounce.
In UK corporate news, Oxford Instruments slumped 28% after warning of lower profits due to an absence of sales to Russia because of sanctions. The technology tools provider said it expects adjusted pretax profit of around GBP35 million for the year to end-March, down from the GBP45 million forecast previously and compared with an adjusted pretax profit of GBP47.1 million a year earlier.
Royal Mail tops the FTSE 100 leaders, up 3.6%. The company's nine-month revenue to December 28 rose 1%, in line with its expectations, with the seasonal increase in parcel volumes coming through as anticipated. It said it remains confident that the outcome for the full year will be in line with its expectations.
Balfour Beatty is down 1.1% after reporting its UK construction profit will be GBP70 million lower in 2014, following a review of its operations by KPMG. The infrastructure company raised its own valuation of its public-private partnership portfolio to GBP1.30 billion and also said its proposed share buyback of up to GBP200 million has been cancelled.
Commercial property company CLS Holdings is up 7.6% after it said it expects its financial results for the year to December 31 will be materially ahead of current market expectations after a significant rise in the value of its London property portfolio.
US earnings due Thursday include Starbucks, Verizon Communications and Union Pacific.
By Ian Edmondson; [email protected]
Related Shares:
Balfour BeattyCLS HoldingsOxford InstrumentsRMG.L