5th Nov 2013 07:39
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are indicated to open marginally higher Tuesday. Following a higher close in the US on Monday, a busy day of UK corporate reporting has begun, and the FTSE 100 is indicated to open 0.2% higher, at 6,779.50.
China's service sector growth accelerated modestly in October, a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC revealed overnight. The HSBC services business activity index rose to 52.6 from 52.4 in September. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion of the sector. The composite output index, which gauges the performance of both manufacturing and service sector firms, rose to 51.8 from 51.2 in September.
Despite the continuation of positive readings from China, Asian stocks are trading mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 0.4%.
Retail sales in the UK picked up in October, as the British Retail Consortium Tuesday reported a 0.8% increase compared to October 2012. The result follows a 0.7% year-on-year improvement seen in September. BRC said online sales of non-food products increased 12% in October compared to one year earlier. The Consortium said the on-line penetration rate reached 18.3% in October, the highest in 23 months of BRC record keeping.
The numbers from the BRC come on the same day as UK retailer Marks & Spencer reports interim results in which it says its online sales were up 29% in the first half of the year.
Also reporting Tuesday are Imperial Tobacco with full year results. G4S that will be in the spotlight after the UK's Serious Fraud Office said on Monday that it has opened a criminal investigation into electronic monitoring contracts run by the company and competitor Serco.
Currency majors have remained stable overnight, with the pound continuing to trade at USD1.5965 and the euro just about managing to hold above USD1.35.
Traders are continuing to look towards the major risk events later in the week in the form of the ECB and BOE policy meetings on Thursday and the US non-farm payrolls on Friday.
In Tuesday's data schedule still ahead, the UK Markit services PMI is due at 0928 GMT. A reading of 59.8 is expected, which would be a slight decrease from the previous 60.3.
The European Commission is due to release its economic growth forecasts at 1000 GMT, with the EU producer price index due at the same time.
By Jon Darby; [email protected]; @jondarby100
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