London set for the red
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 74 points lower on Thursday, out of step with gains across most of Asia.
The divergence reflects the dearth of tech stocks on the London market and its reliance on the natural resources sector.
Exhibit one: Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 3% as chip stocks rallied after Micron Technology, the US memory-chip maker, forecast quarterly revenue ahead of analysts' estimates.
Exhibit 2: South Korea's KOSPI gained 1.7%, helped by figures showing exports up 83.5% year on year as semiconductor shipments hit a record.
Proof: Australia, heavily skewed towards mining, oil and gas, bucked the trend, with the S&P/ASX 200 down nearly 2% after a sharp drop in its August trade surplus.
In the US, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rose 0.3% in August, below forecasts of 0.4%.
That has eased pressure on the Fed to raise rates again in October.
