The FTSE 100 is seen marginally lower after closing flat on Tuesday after an update on UK inflation showed no change from July’s rate of 3.1%, while US retail sales rose 0.4% in August, which was a bigger increase than expected.
Essar Energy (LON:ESSR) was the top performer among the blue chips with a gain of nearly 4%. Outsourcing group Capita (LON:CPI), gold miner Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) and oil and gas engineering firm Petrofac (LON:PFC) added almost 3%. Miner Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC), telecom group Cable & Wireless Worldwide (LON:CW) and silver miner Fresnillo (LON:FRES) tacked on just over 2.5%.
Chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) was at the bottom of the pile with a loss of 4%. Clothing retailer Next (LON:NXT) declined 2.1%, while turbine manufacturer Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) and tour operator TUI Travel (LON:TT) shed nearly 2%. Interdealer broker ICAP (LON:IAP) and Home Retail Group (LON:HOME) retreated 1.5%.
US stocks didn’t move by much yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.15% and the broader S&P 500 index lost just 0.1%. The technology heavy NASDAQ composite rose 0.2%.
Asian stocks were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.55%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rallied 2.6%, South Korea’s KOSPI moved up 0.1% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.8%.
Commodities
Oil prices moved lower. October Brent Crude declined to US$78.88/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for October delivery dropped to US$76.24/barrel.
Gold retreated to US$1,268/oz after setting fresh record highs yesterday. Silver and platinum stood at US$20.48/oz and US$1,586/oz respectively.
Base metals were in decline. Copper and nickel dropped to US$3.42/lb and US$10.57/lb, while zinc slid to US$0.963/lb.
UK jobless claims data is due out today.