LONDON (Alliance News) - Share prices in London are pointed to a slightly higher open Tuesday as investors and in the US and UK and in parts of Europe return from a long weekend to catch up with the equity market gains made in Asia on Monday.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 15.1 points higher at 7,046.8. The index closed up 0.3% at 7,031.72 on Friday.
Wall Street closed lower on Friday, with the DJIA ending down 0.3%, the S&P 500 closing down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite ending just a touch lower.
In Paris on Monday, the CAC 40 closed down 0.5%, while the market in Frankfurt was closed.
In Asia Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei closed up 0.1% pushing on to new 15-year highs. The Hang Seng trades up 1.3%, and the Shanghai Composite is up 1.6%, rising to seven-year highs. On Monday, the Japanese Nikkei closed up 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite ended up 3.4%. Hong Kong was closed.
The Chinese government decided to cut import tariffs on consumer goods such as cosmetics, shoes, and clothes in June, in a bid to boost domestic consumption amid slowing economic growth. Import taxes on some products will be lowered by an average over 50%, starting June 1, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday.
The focus is also on Greece this week ahead of its loan payment to the International Monetary Fund. A Greek government spokesman on Monday played down suggestions by two leading cabinet ministers that the country is about to default on its debt, saying all efforts were being taken to repay a looming IMF loan on schedule.
Gabriel Sakellaridis said Greece would maintain repayments to its EU-IMF creditors for as long as possible. He also rejected the idea of possible capital controls that would restrict money transfers and access to savings.
On Sunday, the country's interior minister had said Greece does not have the money to make a repayment to the IMF by June.
Greece is believed to be close to going bankrupt after failing for months to access EUR7.2 billion left in its international bailout, causing the euro to trade at its lowest level in almost a month against the dollar at USD1.0906.
Low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings said early Tuesday its full-year profit after tax climbed 66% to EUR867 million from EUR523 million in the prior year. Net margin jumped from 10% to 15%.
AstraZeneca said Amgen Inc has terminated their co-development and commercialisation deal for monoclonal antibody brodalumab after observing "suicidal ideation and behaviour events" in the programme that might result in "restrictive labelling".
Elsewhere in the UK corporate calendar, cinema chain Cineworld Group and software developer Micro Focus International both issued trading statements. Industrial chains and power transmission products supplier Renold reported full-year results, as did Minds + Machines Group.
In the economic calendar, the Confederation of British Industry's Distributive Trades Survey is at 1100 BST, and US durable goods orders are at 1330 BST. The US housing price index is at 1400 BST, before consumer confidence and new house sales at 1500 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
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Astrazeneca (AZN)
Renold (RNO)