The FTSE 100 is set to give away the 0.9% on Monday in early trade today. The markets were buoyant yesterday after China’s central bank said it would allow a more flexible exchange rate of national currency yuan, allowing it to appreciate.
Miners were leading the way with Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) emerging atop the leaderboard with a 6% advance. Peers Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) followed with gains of 5%. Xstrata (LON:XTA) and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) added nearly 5%, while Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ) tacked on about 3.5%. Oil and gas engineering firm Petrofac (LON:PFC) was the only non-mining stock in top ten with a 2.7% gain.
Retailer Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) was at the bottom of the pile with a 2.5% loss. Oil and gas supermajor BP (LON:BP) followed, shedding 2.2%. Caterer Compass Group (LON:CPG) and United Utilities (LON:UU) shed nearly 2%. National Grid (LON:NG) was down 1.3%.
US stocks rallied in early trade, yet pared gains later in the day to end the session in the negative. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%, the broader S&P 500 index slipped 0.4% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite declined 0.9%.
Asian markets were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.1%, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 0.55% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 1%.
Commodities
Oil prices were in decline. August Brent Crude slid to US$78.05/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for July delivery moved down to US$77.06/barrel.
Precious metals inched higher after falling late in the day yesterday. Gold rose to US$1,237/oz, while silver and platinum improved to US$18.79/oz and US$1,598/oz respectively.
Base metals followed, also posting small gains. Copper and nickel reached US$2.96/lb and US$8.82/lb, while zinc rose to US$0.79/lb.
Chancellor George Osborne will make his first budget statement today. The Richmond Fed index, existing home sales and house prices index are due out in the US.