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LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 is set to open higher Thursday after shares in tech bellwether Apple recovered to help push US indices to a strong finish on Wednesday.
Futures indicate that the FTSE 100 will open 20 points higher at 6,850.0. The index closed at 6,830.11 on Wednesday.
US indices ended Wednesday higher with the DJIA gaining 0.3%, the S&P 500 gaining 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite closing up 0.7%. Apple shares closed up 3%.
Inflation in China slowed by more than expected in August and producer prices extended their decline for the 30th consecutive month, providing leeway for the implementation of additional stimulus to offset the weakness in property sector. Consumer price inflation slowed to a four-month low of 2% in August. It was forecast to ease more moderately to 2.2% from the 2.3% in July.
As a result, the Shanghai Composite is trading 0.5% lower, and the Hang Seng is trading down 0.3%, while the Nikkei in Japan closed up 0.8%.
The second reading of German consumer price index for August confirmed the preliminary readings, with the year-on-year figure showing a 0.8% growth and the month-on-month reading coming in flat.
However, analysts believe these results will have a limited impact on markets, as low inflation is already being addressed by the European Central bank. "In a sense, following the ECB?s latest policy announcement of an asset purchase program, today?s inflation data has slightly less significance and may have a more muted impact on markets since the low inflation is clearly being acknowledged," says Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.
FTSE 100 retailer Next has just released particularly strong half-year results, reporting a rise in pretax profit to GBP342.5 million from GBP271.8 million for the same period last year. Revenue also jumped to GBP1.85 billion from GBP1.68 billion last year, and the company has raised its interim dividend to 50 pence from 36 pence last year.
Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group have made contingency plans to move their headquarters to London in the event of the Scottish people voting in favour of a split from the UK at next week's referendum.
"While the scale of potential change is currently unclear, we have contingency plans in place which include the establishment of new legal entities in England," Lloyds said in a statement. RBS said it would re-domicile both its holding company and The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC in the case of a "Yes" vote.
Ahead on Thursday is the ECB's monthly report at 0900 BST, which analyses the economic situation in Europe and the risks to price stability. Also, ECB President Mario Draghi will be making a keynote speech at Eurofi Financial Forum in Milan at 2000 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com
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