Proactive Investors -
FTSE 100 expected to open higher, US CPI ahead
The FTSE 100 is expected to open higher as investors hope cooling US inflation figures today will be enough to prompt the US Federal Reserve to hold interest rates at this week’s meeting.
Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index up by around 28 points.
The Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of Japan are all set to make their latest interest rate calls this week.
The latest US consumer price index report is expected to show that headline inflation slowed to 4.1% year on year in May, a significant improvement from the 4.9% rate in April, offering hope the Fed will pause its interest rate rising spree.
"Any deviation from the forecast path is likely to cause a jolt of volatility on markets," said Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV).
On Monday, US markets closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.6%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.5%.
In Asia, the People’s Bank of China cut its seven-day reverse repo rate, marking its first move to boost short-term liquidity in the country’s interbank market in nine months.
The central bank said the 0.1 percentage point cut, which lowered the lending rate to 1.9%, was carried out to “maintain reasonably sufficient liquidity in the banking system”.
Back in London, and the early focus will be UK jobless and average earnings figures plus updates from Ashtead (LON:AHT), Bellway (LON:BWY) and CMC Markets.