European market opened lower after weakening oil prices and lowered expectations from luxury goods across Europe after LVMH (LON:0HAU) fell 3.2% after its business update, dragging down the shares of its rivals, with Burberry (LON:BRBY) down 1.8% while Kering (PA:PRTP) also declined by 2%. FTSE 100 is currently down 0.41% and the DAX is down 0.63%.
UK News
Total retail sales remained unchanged in March as compared to the prior-year period (vs +1.1% YoY in February), and like-for-like retail sales were down 0.7% in March (vs +2.0% expected, +0.1% in February), according to the British Retail Consortium.
Tesco (LON:TSCO) announced the sale of an 8.6% stake in Lazada Group, the one-stop eCommerce gateway for local and international sellers and brands to consumers in South East Asia, to Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group for $129M.
Michael Page International (LON:MPI) said it delivered first quarter gross profit of £142.4M, up 3.6% in constant currencies and 4.9% in reported rates as it benefited by c. £1.8M due to the weakening of sterling.
Global News
In Asia stocks rose on Tuesday, led by a rebound in Japanese stocks, while commodities such as crude oil rose thanks to the weakening in dollar. Nikkei pared earlier losses and gained more than 1%. Shanghai lost 0.4%.
The U.S. dollar remained on the defensive on Tuesday. The greenback recovered 0.3% in Asian trade on Tuesday to 108.24 yen. The euro was at $1.1406. Sterling climbed to a high of $1.4287 and was last at $1.4232.
Oil prices fell in early sessions today but both U.S. and international crude futures held above $40 per barrel ahead of a meeting of major producers to discuss freezing output levels to rein in the oversupply. U.S. WTI crude futures were trading at $40.24 per barrel. Brent crude futures were at $42.69 a barrel.
US stocks were slightly lower on Monday, with gains in materials and banks countered by declines in consumer staples shares, as investors girded for the start of an earnings season expected to be gloomy. The S&P 500 lost 0.27%, to 2,041.99.
Economic Calendar
- 09:30 GMT+1 UK CPI y/y
- 13:30 GMT+1 US Import Prices m/m
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