Proactive Investors - 7.00am: Footsie seen slightly higher
FTSE 100 seen opening slightly higher on Thursday, supported by gains in Hong Kong, but the mood may remain subdued as growth worries continue to hit sentiment.
Spread betting companies are calling the lead index up by around 8 points.
Michael Hewson chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK said: “There appears to be little in the way of significant direction in markets at the moment, hardly surprising given next week’s looming central bank decisions, and we will probably continue to see further scratchiness in the upcoming days.”
In the US, markets ended a more subdued trading session little changed pausing for breath after the recent volatility as investors look ahead to next week’s FOMC meeting.
At the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1 point at 33,597, the S&P 500 fell, for a fifth consecutive day, by 7 points, or 0.2%, to 3,934 while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 56 points, or 0.5%, 10,959.
“The market’s kind of bobbing and weaving and finding its breath after the big rally off the October lows,” Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson Group told CNBC.
In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index was down 0.4%, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 3.0%.
Back in London and trading statements are expected from construction firm Balfour Beatty (LON:BALF) and cigarette maker British American Tobacco (LON:BATS), while there will also be half-year results from packaging firm DS Smith, online estate agent Purplebricks, and retailer Frasers Group for investors to digest.