FTSE 100 expected to open modestly higher
London’s leading shares are set to open modestly higher after a strong showing from US stocks yesterday.
Spread betting quotes indicate the FTSE 100 will rise 24 points to 7,044 at the open.
“The overnight data from the US was a mixed bag,” declared Jeffrey Halley at OANDA.
“Durable Goods ex transport rose respectably by 1.0%, above expectations of 0.80%. Pending Home Sales fell 4.40%, which isn’t much of a surprise given mortgage applications have been falling. With the US freshly vaccinated, escaping the zombie apocalypse in the city and escaping to suburban Wisteria Lane is now less appealing. Most notably, Initial Jobless Claims fell to 406,000, which seems to have supported some modestly bullish sentiment for the remainder of the session,” he added.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 142 points to 34,465 while the S&P closed in on another record high, rising 5 points to 4,201.
In Asia this morning, most markets have picked up the baton from the US. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is 603 points heavier at 29,153 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is 184 points to the good at 29,297.
The agenda for the UK today is emptier than my book of pithy metaphors.
A couple of FTSE 100 companies have annual general meetings scheduled for today, of which the Holdings PLC () looks the more interest, given the banking giant announced yesterday it would be exiting the US retail banking giant.
The other company is PLC (LON:RKT) but it is not expected to release any new numbers, which come to think of it, is also the case with .
On the macroeconomic front, the only items likely to be of interest all relate to the US and include the personal income and spending data releases.
“The former jumped more than 21%M/M [month-on-month] in March due to the receipt of stimulus payments,” reported Daiwa Capital Markets.
Daiwa’s chief economist for America, Mike Moran, expects a 13.0% month-on-month (M/M) downward correction this month.
“Encouragingly, given the resilience seen in the retail data, Mike expects a modest 0.2%M/M lift in spending in April despite the strong 4.2%M/M uplift seen in March. Meanwhile, following the shock CPI reading, Mike estimates that the core PCE deflator will post a 0.5%M/M increase – the most since 2001 – which given reinforcing base effects should lift annual inflation to around a three-decade high of 2.8%Y/Y.”
Good old Mike.
“Finally, Friday will also bring the Chicago PMI for May and the advance merchandise trade report for April. Regarding the latter, Mike expects both exports and imports to ease, but the decline in imports should dominate to deliver a modestly narrower trade deficit for the month,” Daiwa reports.
That’s enough from Mike. Let the trading commence!
Around the markets
- Sterling: US$1.4198, down 0.05 cents
- 10-year gilt: 0.812%, + 5.75 basis points
- Brent crude: US$69.48 a barrel, up 28 cents
- Gold: US$1,895.30 an ounce, down US$3.20
- Bitcoin: US$37,583, down US$893
6.50am: Early Markets – Asia / Australia
Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region were higher on Friday as shares of newly listed JD Logistics opened at 46.05 Hong Kong dollars before surging to more than 18% from its issue price.
The Shanghai Composite in China gained 0.18% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lifted 0.63%
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 surged 2.19% while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.99%.
Shares in Australia jumped, with the S&P/ASX 200 trading 1.26% higher.
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