The FTSE 100 is back above the 7500 mark, we have seen alot of price action in this region lately. The London market has found it difficult to hold onto the 7500 level.
Marks and Spencer (LON:MKS) shares are 1.3% higher this morning after the company announced full-year profits before one off items that exceeded estimates. The clothing and homeware department had a disappointing final quarter, as sales fell by 5.9% on a like-for-like basis.
Kingfisher (LON:KGF) is under the cosh as a poor performance as its French business overshadowed the solid numbers from Poland and the UK. The share price is down 6%.
The EUR/USD has dipped back below the $1.12 level even though the German GfK consumer climate improved in May. The US dollar is broadly higher against a basket of currencies ahead of the Fed minutes tonight. Mario Draghi is speaking in Madrid at 1.45pm today.
WTI and Brent Crude are at their highest levels in over one month ahead of the OPEC meeting tomorrow. Saudi Arabia would like to extend the production cut until the end of March 2018, while others would like to extend it until the end of the year only. The talk of any production cut is prompting buyers. At 3.30pm the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will post the latest oil inventories figures, and the market is expecting a decline of 2.4 million barrels, and last week’s report showed a drop of 1.8 million barrels.
We are expecting the Dow Jones to open 15 points higher at 20,952, and the S&P 500 to open at 2400, up two points.
The US will reveal existing home sales for April at 3pm, and the consensus is 5.65 million, and that compares with 5.71 million in March. Keep in mind that yesterday’s new home sales fell 11.4%. The minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting will be announced at 7pm. Traders will be trying to ascertain if the US central bank will hike rates next month. The Fed funds futures market is pricing in a 100% probability of an interest rate hike in June, but that may change if the political scandal surrounding Donald Trump flares up again.
In terms of economic indicators we are expecting HP (NYSE:HPQ), Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) and Triumph Group (NYSE:TGI) to announce their quarterly numbers today.
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