16th Sep 2014 06:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK equities prices are set to open a little higher Tuesday, ahead of the release of the latest UK inflation data later in the morning and with Thursday's vote on Scottish independence remaining a key market focus.
Futures indicate that the FTSE 100 will open 6 points higher at 6,810.
A relatively quiet start to an important week for markets Monday saw the FTSE 100 end just marginally lower as investors exercise caution in the run up to Thursday's referendum, at which Scotland will vote on whether or not to break away from the rest of the UK.
US stocks went on to have a mixed session, with investors there increasingly looking to Wednesday's Federal Reserve policy meeting as the next major driver. Technology stocks were the worst performers in the US session, leading the Nasdaq Composite down 1.1%, while the DJIA closed up 0.3%, and the S&P 500 closed down 0.1%.
Another major upcoming event for the US markets is the flotation of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The company raised its IPO price range overnight to between USD66 and USD68 per share. Currently on track to be the largest IPO in history, the company is expected to float as soon as Friday.
The Asian session has been broadly negative, with the Hong Kong market shutting down for part of the morning as Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the city. The Hang Seng has reopened and is trading down 0.3%. The Japanese Nikkei has closed down 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite continues 0.8% lower.
Foreign direct investment in China declined notably in August, figures from the Ministry of Commerce showed. During January to August, inbound investment slid 1.8% from last year to USD78.3 billion.
The domestic economic focus Tuesday is the release of the latest UK inflation data at 0930 BST. Economists expect UK consumer prices to have risen by 1.5% in August, which would be a slight fall in the rate of inflation from the 1.6% recorded in July. Analysts say the forecast drop will be a reflection of falling fuel prices.
The core price index, which excludes the most volatile products such as food and energy, is expected to show steady growth of 1.8% in August, unchanged from July.
The German ZEW surveys of economic sentiment will also be in focus Tuesday. Economists expect to see the ninth consecutive month of declines in business confidence in Europe's largest economy, as the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the consequential economic sanction continue to take a toll. A reading of 4.8 is expected for September, down from 8.6 in August.
From the UK corporate calendar Tuesday, full-year results have been released from FTSE 250 construction company Galliford Try, showing a rise in pretax profit to GBP95.2 million from GBP74.1 million in the previous year, and an accompanying rise in the dividend payment to 53p from 37p.
As London fashion week comes to an end, AIM-listed online retail giant ASOS has released a fourth quarter trading update. The sector leader said it lost between GBP25 million to GBP30 million in sales over the quarter due to the significant fire at its warehouse, and it expects pretax profit in the 2015 financial year to be similar to the previous year.
Catalogue retail group N Brown also has put out a trading statement, along with housebuilder Crest Nicholson and travel operator Thomas Cook Group.
By Jon Darby; [email protected]; @jondarby100
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