LONDON (Alliance News) - UK stocks are trading higher Monday as investors await the release of the backlog of US data announcements delayed by the government's partial shutdown, with Wall Street also set to open up as a global relief rally in the wake of the temporary solution to the US fiscal crisis continued.
The focus has shifted back to US data after last week's decision to extend the budget until mid-January and debt ceiling until early February. Housing and job market reports are expected to dominate proceedings in the coming week.
The National Association of Realtor's existing home sales report for September is due at 1500 BST Monday, while the Commerce Department's new home sales report, also for September, is scheduled to be released on Thursday. Durable goods orders for September and the final consumer sentiment reading are due to be released Friday and the weekly eekly jobless report is also likely to act as a market catalyst Thursday.
However, the Labor Department non-farm payrolls report for August, which was delayed due to the federal government shutdown, is now due Tuesday and will be the most closely watched as a possible indicator of whether the Federal Reserve will start tapering its the quantitative easing sooner rather than later.
It is widely expected that the Fed will delay any tapering plans until American lawmakers are able to establish a more permanent solution to Washington's fiscal battles, a move that would be supportive for equities as companies and the wider economy benefit from the continuing flow of cheap money. Matt Basi, head of UK sales trading at CMC Markets, said "all but the most hawkish commentators have almost entirely priced out any prospect of fed tapering in 2013."
Ahead of the New York bell, the FTSE 100 is up 0.2% at 6,632.89, the FTSE 250 is up 0.7% at 15,493.73, and the AIM All-Share index is up 0.4% at 801.55. Stock futures are indicating that the Nasdaq will open 0.3% higher, the S&P 0.1% higher, while the DJIA is called to open flat.
At the individual UK equity level, Centamin and Nyota Minerals are both big movers. Centamin, up 3%, is one of the biggest winners on the FTSE 250, while Nyota, down 17%, is a big faller on the AIM All-Share index. The moves come after Centamin reduced its shareholding in Nyota, just days after Nyota rebuffed Centamin and signed development partner deals with another company. Nyota said that Centamin sold 20 million shares Thursday and Friday, lowering its holding to 151 million shares or 17.2% of the company's issued share capital. A spokesman for Nyota declined to comment on why Centamin reduced its stake in the company. Nyota last week said it had signed two agreements with a new development partner for its Tulu Kapi Gold Project in Ethiopia but a spokesman told Alliance News at the time that the sales deal was not with Centamin, which was one of the key players in discussions over Nyota's future.
By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
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