MARKET PREVIEW

Market Preview is published daily an hour before trading kicks off on the London Stock Exchange, giving investors a roundup of macroeconomic and corporate news that is likely to move the markets along with the expected opening level of the FTSE 100.

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Friday, February 03, 2012

MARKET PREVIEW: FTSE 100 seen flat ahead of non-farm payrolls

MARKET PREVIEW: FTSE 100 seen flat ahead of non-farm payrolls

The UK’s blue chip FTSE 100 index set to open at 5,796, unchanged from Thursday’s close, as investors await today’s crucial US employment data.

The Department of Labor will release its non-farm payrolls estimate for January this afternoon with analysts expecting to see a gain of 140-150,000 following an increase of 200,000 in December.

The report will follow Wednesday’s figures from payrolls processor ADP, which showed that the private sector creased 170,000 jobs last month.

Other data due to be released today includes the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing index for January and an update on US factory orders for December.

In the meantime, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao suggested the world’s second largest economy could contribute to bailout packages for struggling European countries. His comments followed a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“We will likely have to wait two weeks until a delayed China-EU summit to see the details of any Chinese investment into the rescue funds,” said analyst at forex.com Chris Tedder.

“Nevertheless, this is the best sign we’ve seen from Beijing that they would be willing to work with Europe to solve its debt crisis, which could help lift risk assets leading up to the summit, but investors will be weighing this against the problems currently facing Europe.”

Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 11 points (0.1 percent) to 12,705, while the broader S&P 500 index added 1.5 points (0.1 percent) to close at 1,325.

Asian stocks were headed in different directions today. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index stood 45 points (0.5 percent) lower at 8,832, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 22 points (0.95 percent) to reach 2,334.


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