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LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices are indicated to open higher Thursday, with investors waiting for the the US retail sales data due to be released this afternoon, amid speculation of a summer US interest rate hike, while euro and dollar moves continue to be the main focus for the market.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 13 points higher at 6,734. The index closed up 0.3% at 6,721.51 on Wednesday, with some blue-chip stocks in the index benefiting from late bargain hunting after Tuesday losses, but with weaker-that-expected UK industrial production data and some out-of-favour mining and oil stocks limiting gains.
"This week?s trend of euro and dollar moves really dictating the state of play in the markets looks set to continue again this morning," says Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. "The pair looks to be stabilising, although the mere fact that [the euro] made new lows this morning and isn?t showing signs of momentum loss suggests to me that bias is going to remain to the downside," he added.
"I would say this is more responsible for the persistent euro weakness than anything else right now. This is the problem with starting a massive bond buying program at a time when yields were already at or near all-time lows," Erlam writes.
The euro is quoted at USD1.0591 Thursday morning, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday that the stimulus measures adopted by the bank since January - including its EUR1.1 trillion quantitative easing programme - will stabilise inflation in line with the ECB's mandated target and that the measures are working their way into the real economy.
The increase in self-employment may not represent any additional slack in the economy, the Bank of England said in a quarterly bulletin published on Thursday.
"A large part of the increase in self-employment since 2008 does indeed seem to reflect trends that began before the recession," BoE Economist Srdan Tatomir said in the research paper. There was a trend increase in the female self-employment rate in the population, it noted.
Elsewhere, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research on Wednesday said the UK economy grew 0.6% in three months to February, the same rate of growth as seen in three months to January. On a monthly series, the expansion was in line with the average rate of growth of the UK economy since June 2014.
The German consumer price index, released early Thursday, was in line with the market expectations in February. Month-on-month, the data was at 0.9%, after a 1.1% decline in January. Year-on-year, data rose 0.1%, against a previous reading of a 0.4% drop. The Harmonised Index of consumer prices was also in line with consensus estimates, with a rise of 1.0% on a month-on-month basis after a 1.3% decline in January. Year-on-year, data showed a drop of 0.1% after a 0.5% decline in the previous reading.
Wall Street ended lower Wednesday, with the DJIA, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, down 0.2%.
In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed up 1.4%, while the Hang Seng trades up 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up 1.8%.
Japan business confidence worsened in the first quarter, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Finance showed Thursday. The business survey index for the first quarter dropped to 1.9 and dipped further to 1.0 in the second quarter.
The BSI of sentiment at large manufacturers fell to 2.4 in the first quarter from 8.1 points in the fourth quarter. The score for the second quarter declined deeply to -0.9.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD58.16 a barrel Thursday, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate is quoted at USD48.44 a barrel. Gold is quoted early Thursday at USD1,164.12 an ounce.
ITV said Thursday it has agreed to acquire buy Dutch media tycoon John De Mol Jr's production company Talpa Media BV for an initial cash consideration of around EUR500 million, funded from its existing cash resources and new debt facilities.
The maximum consideration ITV will pay for the Netherlands-based production firm is up to EUR1.1 billion, contingent on Talpa delivering "significant profit growth" over an eight-year period, and de Mol's continued commitment to the business during this period.
ITV expects the acquisition to add to earnings immediately, and to boost the growth of its production arm, ITV Studios, internationally.
Also in the corporate calendar Thursday, Wm Morrisons Supermarkets, Serco Group, SOCO International, Cineworld Group, LSL Property Services, SIG and TT Electronics released full year results. Computacenter, Fenner, Home Retail Group and ASOS issued trading statements.
In the economic calendar, French consumer price index is at 0745 GMT while UK Goods trade balance is at 0930 GMT. Eurozone industrial production is at 1000 GMT. In the US, Import and Export price indices, retail sales and initial jobless claims are at 1230 GMT. At 1245 GMT, BoE Governor Mark Carney gives a speech in Sheffield at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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