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LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are expected to open marginally higher Tuesday, as traders return to work after "Storm St. Jude" caused the absence of many on Monday.
Stocks closed mixed in the US, with the DJIA flat and the Nasdaq Composite marginally lower. The S&P 500 actually made another record high, closing at 1,762.11 points, but that represented a gain of just 0.1%. Apple reported sales and earnings ahead of forecasts after the closing bell Monday, although the tech giant also warned of falling profit margins.
Stocks in Asia are mixed, with the Hang Seng up 0.2% but the Nikkei down 0.5%.
Developments overnight have provided little direction for the London market, which is expected to open close to flat, as traders look once again to the Fed in the US, with the FOMC beginning its two-day October policy meeting Tuesday.
The latest reading around the UK housing market and Help to Buy programme is due at 0930GMT, with net lending and mortgage approvals data. These lending numbers have been on the rise since March and the expectation is for monthly approvals to have risen to 66,000 in September, up from 62,200 in August. The amount of lending is expected to have risen sharply to GBP2.5 billion in September from GBP1.6 billion in August.
In the afternoon, the US Producer Price Index and retail sales numbers are due at 1230GBT.
Lloyds has swung to a profit for the first nine months of the year, despite suffering a third quarter loss, largely the result of a new GBP750 million payment protection insurance charge. The part-government-owned bank said it made a GBP1.69 billion pretax profit for the nine months to September 30, compared with a GBP607 million loss for the corresponding period last year.
Statements also are out from Standard Chartered, BP and Stagecoach Tuesday.
By Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100
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