LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are set to open slightly lower Thursday, after a sharp rise Wednesday on optimism about a Greek deal, with investors also focusing on the latest revision to the first quarter UK GDP reading, due at 0930 BST.
After European markets closed Wednesday, Germany rejected Athens' claims that it was close to a deal with its international creditors as the world's top financial officials gathered in Dresden for a meeting overshadowed by the Greek debt crisis.
Global markets had rebounded on Wednesday ahead of the two-day meeting in the eastern German city after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said his cash-strapped state was in "the final stretch towards a positive deal." But members of the German delegation in Dresden for the meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers and central bankers said: "We have not advanced much further on the matter."
Away from Greece's debt issues, the focus shifts to the UK with the latest revision to the underwhelming Q1 GDP numbers released just before May's General Election.
"The initial Q1 GDP number was rather disappointing, coming in at 0.3%, well below expectations of 0.5%, and raised concerns that the uncertainty created by the approaching election had prompted a delay in some investment decisions," says Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. "Today?s revision is expected to see an upward revision to the Q1 numbers to 0.4% as more data is added to the internals of the GDP calculation."
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 3 points lower at 7,030.2. The index closed up 1.2% on Wednesday.
Wall Street ended higher Wednesday. The DJIA closed up 0.7%, the S&P 500 ended up 0.9 % and the Nasdaq Composite finished up 1.5%.
In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 is flat, the Hang Seng trades down 1.6%, while the Shanghai Composite is trading down 1.6%.
In the corporate calendar Thursday, Kingfisher issues a first-quarter trading update, while Tate & Lyle, Paypoint, Gable Holdings, Porta Communications and Lakehouse release full year results. Meanwhile, IG Group Holdings issues a trading statement, while Avocet Mining publishes first-quarter results.
Also in the economic calendar, the German Import Price Index is due at 0700 BST, while Italy GDP is at 0900 BST. Eurozone consumer confidence is at 1000 BST. In the US, jobless claims are due at 1330 BST, while EIA crude oil stocks are at 1600 BST.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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