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LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are set to open higher Monday, as investors start a week that will be driven by central bank news, with ECB President Mario Draghi speaking Monday in Frankfurt, a Bank of Japan monetary policy decision on Tuesday, and the US Federal Reserve rate meeting ending on Wednesday.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 23.8 points higher at 6,763.8. The index lost 0.3% on Friday to 6,740.17, down 2.5% for the week as a whole, meaning London's blue-chip index posted its biggest weekly drop since early December, with mining and oil-related stocks coming under pressure as oil prices fell and the US dollar continued to strengthen against major currency pairs.
The average asking price for a house in the UK was up 1.0% on month in March, property tracking website Rightmove said on Monday. That missed forecasts for an increase of 1.9%, and it was down from the 2.1% gain in February. On a yearly basis, prices climbed 5.4% - also below expectations for 6.5% and down from 6.6% in the previous month. A decline in prices in the London market weighed on the overall index.
The UK government has launched a review of the business rates system, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced on Monday. The review, which is set to report back by the government budget in 2016, will examine the structure of the current system, a business property tax which is currently paid on an annual basis on 1.8 million properties in England.
The review will consider how businesses use property, what the UK can learn from the systems in use in other countries, and how the system could be modernised to better reflect changes in the value of property, the Treasury said in a statement.
Wall Street ended lower Friday. The DJIA closed down 0.8%, the S&P 500 ended down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.4%.
In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed flat and the Hang Seng trades up 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up 2%.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD54.62 a barrel Monday, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate is quoted at USD44.18 a barrel. Gold is quoted early Monday at USD1,163.11 an ounce.
In the corporate calendar Monday, Tribal Group, Real Estate Investors, EKF Diagnostics Holdings, Brady, Smart Metering Systems and Petards Group release full-year results.
In the economic calendar, German Buba monthly report is at 1100 GMT, while UK CB Leading Economic Index is at 1330 GMT. At 1845 GMT, European Central Bank's President Mario Draghi will speak in SZ Finance Day 2015 in Frankfurt. In the US, NY Empire State Manufacturing index is at 1230 GMT, Industrial production is at 1315 GMT, while NAHB Housing Market Index is at 1400 GMT.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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