LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are set to open lower Tuesday, with investors focused on economic data including the UK current account and GDP figures as well as any progress on talks about Greek reforms.
"With the situation in Greece continuing to simmer away in the background investors appear remarkably relaxed about the lack of detail in yesterday?s reform list, with details of pension and labour market reform somewhat sketchy at best," says Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
"With German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisting that Greece?s reform program needs to add up, it is still increasingly evident that it remains some way short of doing so, as the game of chicken that has been going on since February continues to play out," he adds.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 will open 7 points lower at 6,883.6. The index closed Monday up 0.5% at 6,891.43, snapping a four-day losing streak, as investor sentiment improved in the wake of dovish comments by central bank chiefs in China and the US.
In the economic calendar, German retails sales data is due at 0700 BST and German unemployment data is at 0855 BST. UK Current account and GDP figures are at 0930 BST, while eurozone's Consumer Price Index and Unemployment Rate are at 1000 BST. In the US, Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index is at 1445 BST, while US Consumer confidence is at 1500 BST.
Wall Street ended higher Monday. The DJIA closed up 1.5%, the S&P 500 ended up 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.2%.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed down 0.4%, and the Hang Seng trades up 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up 0.2%.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD55.72 a barrel Tuesday, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate is quoted at USD47.89 a barrel. Gold is quoted early Tuesday at USD1,183.07 an ounce.
In the corporate calendar Tuesday, Kingfisher, Chesnara, InternetQ and LiDCO Group will release full year results, while James Halstead will publish half year results. Mitie, RPC Group, Thomas Cook Group and QinetiQ Group will issue a trading update.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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