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FTSE 100 seen higher as Asian stocks gain, Dow Jones up 0.4%, commodities fall

19th Mar 2010, 7:51 am FTSE 100 seen higher as Asian stocks gain, Dow Jones up 0.4%, commodities fall

The FTSE 100 is set to tack on 0.2% after ending Thursday flat, whilst the Dow Jones Industrial Average is projected to remain at exactly same level after adding 0.4% yesterday.

Yesterday’s economic data included employment updates from both the US and UK. UK unemployment fell by 33,000, while the jobless rate declined to 7.8% to post the first quarterly decline in nearly two years. US jobless claims data showed a decline of 5,000 to 457,000, while a drop to 455,000 was expected. Meanwhile, US inflation stayed unchanged in February following a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

In the UK, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) emerged atop the leaderboard with a 4% gain. Credit information group Experian (LSE: EXPN) followed, advancing 2.2%, while beverage group SABMiller (LSE: SAB), temporary power provider Aggreko (LSE: AGK), security services group G4S (LSE: GFS) and hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG) all added slightly more than 1.5%.

Part-nationalised banks RBS (LSE: RBS) and Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) were the heaviest fallers with losses of 3.6% and 3.2% respectively. Miners Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) and Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) followed, shedding 2.3% and 2%. Copper miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and banking group Barclays (LSE: BARC) declined 1.8%.

America’s two other key indices, S&P 500 and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite were flat.

Asian stocks performed well as all of the main indices posted gains with the exception of Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which was flat. China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.7%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 0.75%, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.65% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved up 0.2%.

Commodities

Oil prices were slightly lower today. May Brent Crude dropped to US$81.24/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined US$81.98/barrel.

Precious metals also inched lower. Gold slid to US$1,123/oz, while silver and platinum retreated to US$17.39/oz and US$1,624/oz respectively.

Base metals were higher. Copper and nickel rose to US$3.40/lb and US$10.30/lb. Zinc wer steady at US$1.04/lb.

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