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LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices are set to open higher Friday, as with no significant European economic data to be released attention is likely to be on updates from London-listed blue-chips such as Coca-Cola HBC and Intertek.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 26 points higher at 6,999.00. The index closed up 0.3% at 6,973.04, tracking the US markets higher, with movements in volatile bond markets again proving the main driver for the equities markets.
Coca-Cola HBC early Friday said its net sales revenue rose in the first quarter, with volumes higher due to extra selling days and an early Easter, though it faced a mixed effect from currency fluctuations across its operations.
The company, the second-largest bottler of products made by US drinks group The Coca-Cola Co, said its net sales revenue in the first quarter to the end of March was EUR1.35 billion, up from EUR1.33 billion a year earlier. The group's volume rose by 7.2% in the quarter, up to 439 million unit cases from 409.6 million a year earlier, though its net sales revenue per unit case fell to EUR3.08 against EUR3.25.
Intertek Group said it is trading in line with its expectations in 2015 so far, with good growth in the majority of regional operations and continued challenging conditions in its units exposed to the oil and gas and minerals markets.
The FTSE 100-listed company, which provides testing, certification and inspection services, said revenue grew 3.3% in the four months to the end of April, pushed higher by sterling weakening against a number of currencies. At constant currencies, revenue grew 0.3%. Intertek said its operating margin in the period was broadly flat year-on-year.
UK media and communications regulator Ofcom said it has tabled proposals which would allow companies looking to provide high-speed telecoms lines for businesses to be granted access to BT Group's fibre networks using their own equipment, and said it has tabled new service requirements for BT's Openreach arm.
FTSE 100-listed brewer SABMiller said it has struck a deal to buy Greenwich, London-based craft beer company Meantime Brewing Co for an undisclosed amount.
Wall Street ended higher Thursday. The DJIA closed up 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite ended up 1.4%. The S&P 500 ended up 1.1%, reaching a new closing high at 2,121.10.
In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed up 0.8%. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng is up 1.7% and the Shanghai Composite is trading down 1.0%.
"The market isn?t exactly lacking volatility even in the absence of data at the moment. Moves in the bond markets spurred on by rising inflation expectations and low liquidity are creating plenty of market volatility," says Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam.
"The sell-off in bond markets does appear to be slowing though now following what was quite a dramatic decline in a very short period of time. This was especially surprising considering the European Central Bank is taking the other side of that trade which usually piles downward pressure on yields, but it appears that in a low liquidity and highly anxious market, the central bank has met its max," writes Erlam.
CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson says: "While ECB President Mario Draghi reiterated his determination to follow through on the ECB?s QE program to completion yesterday at the IMF, the last few weeks have raised the possibility that the recent rise in European bond markets, in anticipation of the start of QE, had been somewhat overdone and the pullback in recent weeks appears to reflect that."
In the rest of UK corporate calendar Friday, out are interim management statements from housebuilder Bovis Homes Group, supplier of building products to the door and window industry Tyman and oil and gas producer Enquest.
In the economic calendar, in the US, industrial production is due at 1415 BST, while the Reuters/Michigan consumer sentiment index is at 1500 BST.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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