Proactive Investors - The FTSE 100 is expected to edge lower in early exchanges following a lacklustre showing in the US overnight after a mixed bag of earnings.
Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index down by around 6 points.
The Dow closed Wednesday down 80 points, 0.2%, at 33,897, while the Nasdaq Composite added 4 points to 12,157 and the S&P 500 was flat at 4,155. The small-cap Russell 2000 index gained 4 points, 0.2%, to 1,799.
In Asia, markets were mixed. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.3%.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 6% after hours in New York, after the electric vehicle maker reported lower first-quarter profit hit by rising costs and a drop in average selling prices which saw margins plunge.
The electric vehicle maker posted total revenue in the quarter of US$23.33 billion, up 24% from US$18.76 billion a year prior, boosted by growth in vehicle deliveries although there was an adverse forex hit of US$0.8 billion.
But operating income decreased to US$2.66 billion in the quarter from US$3.60 billion a year ago resulting in an 11.4% operating margin down from 19.2% in 2022 and 16% in the previous quarter.
Profitability was also knocked by reduced selling prices, higher raw material, commodity, logistics and warranty costs, and lower credit revenue.
GAAP net income fell 24% to US$2.51 billion from US$3.32 billion.
Back in London and the early focus will be on updates from Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), Segro (LON:SGRO), Rentokil (LON:RTO), AJ Bell (LON:AJBA), and Dunelm (LON:DNLM).
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