Chinese growth helps FTSE 100
The FTSE 100 is up 0.4% on the day and it has retaken the 7400 mark as positive growth numbers from China helped the London equity benchmark.
Mining companies like Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), BHP Billiton (LON:BLT), Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Anglo American (LON:AAL) are all higher on the session after China announced solid growth data. The Chinese economy grew by 6.9% in the second-quarter, and economists were expecting 6.8%. The Beijing administration aims to grow the economy by 6.5% in 2017, and since it grew by 6.9% in the first quarter and given today’s announcement, they are clearly on track to achieve their target.
Carillion shares are up 9% this morning after it was awarded two contracts for the HS2 project. The company, in conjunction with Kier and Eiffage won contracts worth £1.34 billion. The move in Carillion’s stock price must be put in context of the collapse in value we saw last week when the firm issued a profit warning. There is still a lot of uncertainty hanging over the company, and traders are wondering how long the positive move will last.
The EUR/USD is lower on the day as profit taking sets in. The single currency gained ground last week on the back of the disappointing US CPI numbers, but the wider trend to still to the upside. Eurozone CPI for June came in at 1.3%, and dealers were anticipating 1.3%.
WTI and Bent Crude oil are broadly unchanged on the day after the Baker Hughes report showed that the number of active rigs in the US increased by 2 to 765. The number of active rigs in the US has more than doubled in the past year, and that is contributing to the over-supply worries.
We are anticipating the Dow Jones to open 23 points higher at 21,660, and we are calling the S&P 500 unchanged at 2459.
At 1.30pm the US will release the empire state manufacturing index for July, and the expectation is for a reading of 15, and that compares with June’s reading of 19.8.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Blackrock (NYSE:BLK) will announce their second-quarter numbers later today.
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