LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks are set to open lower Tuesday following the report that Chinese inflation slowed to a five-year low.
IG indicates the FTSE 100 to open 8 points lower at 6,829.2. The index closed down 0.2% at 6,837.15 Monday, responding to weak Chinese import figures and continuing concerns the Greek debt situation, after the country's new prime minister delivered a defiant speech at the weekend.
Wall Street closed broadly lower Monday. The DJIA ended down 0.5%, the S&P 500 closed down 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite also ended 0.4% lower.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed down 0.3% and the Hang Seng trades down 0.1%. However, the Shanghai Composite is trading up 0.6%, as the weaker than expected economic data lifted hopes for further central bank intervention.
Chinese inflation slowed to a five-year low in January on easing food inflation, giving space for the central bank to adjust monetary policy to support weakening economic growth. Inflation eased more-than-expected to 0.8% in January from 1.5% in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. This was the lowest since November 2009.
Producer prices slid 4.3% year-on-year following a 3.3% drop a month ago. The rate of decline exceeded the 3.8% drop expected by economists and marked the biggest fall since late 2009. On a monthly basis, producer prices were down 1.1% in January.
In the corporate calendar, specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer Catlin Group is scheduled to report its full-year results, housebuilder Bellway will provide a trading update as will safety, health and environmental technology company Halma. Interdealer broker ICAP will issue a third quarter interim management statement and Cable & Wireless Communications will release a trading statement. Babcock International Group will release an interim management statement.
In the economic calendar, UK industrial and manufacturing production for December is at 0930 GMT, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research's UK GDP estimate will be at 1500 GMT, and US wholesale inventories also are at 1500 GMT.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
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