LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are set to open higher Wednesday, taking a lead from positive Asian stock trading, as the London market focuses on the full-year results from Tesco due to be released at 0700 BST, and the minutes from the Bank of England due to at 0930 BST.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 2 points higher at 7,064.6. The index closed up 0.2% at 7,062.93, in a light day in terms of economic data that let corporate news take centre stage, with Sky and ARM Holdings reaching new record highs after positive earnings reports.
"It will be interesting to see whether the [BoE] committee?s views have changed on the prospects for inflation and wages in light of the more recent data, which has remained fairly positive, throughout the first quarter of this year," says Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Asian stocks are trading higher Wednesday, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 trading up 0.9% at 20,092.21, above the 20,000 mark and at 15-year highs, while the Hang Seng trades up 0.3% at 27,917.09. The Shanghai Composite is up 1.9% at 4,377.35, a level that index hasn't seen since 2008.
Wall Street ended mixed Tuesday. The DJIA closed down 0.5% and the S&P 500 ended down 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite ended up 0.4%.
Overnight, BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, said its iron ore production for the third quarter rose 20% year-over-year to 58.98 million tons. Iron ore production for the 2015 financial year is now expected to be 230 million tons, 2% higher than prior guidance.
Third quarter production of metallurgical coal, which is used in steel making, remained flat with last year at 11.46 million tons. However, energy coal production increased 11% from the prior-year quarter to 19.71 million tons. The miner said its total petroleum production for the third quarter increased 1% from the year-ago period to 61.5 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Also in the economic calendar Wednesday, eurozone consumer confidence is due at 1500 BST. In the US, the house price index is at 1400 BST, existing home sales are at 1500 BST, while EIA crude oil stocks is at 1530 BST.
Also in the corporate calendar, Reed Elsevier and Element issue interim management statements, while Travis Perkins, Ladbrokes, Croda and Hochschild Mining issue first quarter interim management statements. Fenner, Punch Taverns and Connect Group publish half-year results. Telford Homes will issue a trading statement.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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