London open: Stocks fall ahead of BoE, ECB and Federal Reserve meeting minutes

8th Oct 2015 08:31

(ShareCast News) - The FTSE fell on Thursday morning on uncertainty ahead of policy details from the central banks of the UK, US and Europe.The Bank of England will at 1200 BST release its latest policy decision with analysts expecting no change to interest rates or the asset purchase programme. Analysts see the central bank raising interest rates in 2016, between February and late in the year.The BoE may provide hints on the timing of a rate increase in its meeting minutes, released alongside its policy announcement.Last time the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee members voted on rates, Ian McCafferty was the only one to push for a hike and he is expected to do the same this round."There has been a clear willingness to consider rate hikes from policymakers in recent months but the subdued inflation picture is clearly troubling them," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda."The voting and minutes that will be released alongside the announcement should tell us whether recent data has discouraged policy makers from taking the bold decision to hike rates in the months ahead."The European Central Bank will at 1230 BST also publish the accounts of its 2-3 September monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council. The market will be looking for any clues on whether the ECB will provide further easing measures, including the possibility of extending the quantitative easing programme beyond September 2016. Any discussion on a potential cut to the deposit rate will be also closely monitored.In the US, the Federal Reserve releases its 16-17 September meeting minutes at 1900 BST, amid speculation on the first interest rate rise in nearly a decade.Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said policymakers expected an increase at its October or December meetings this year but last Friday's weaker-than-anticipated non-farm payrolls report prompted some analysts to push back their expectations until next year.Despite a slowing of job gains in September, Fed official John Williams said on Tuesday he still expects the central bank to begin raising rates this year. He said he believed the labour market has continued to improve and there have been no signs of a worsening global outlook."Things are looking up, and if they stay on track, I see this as the year we start the process of monetary policy normalisation," Williams said in a speech to the Urban Land Institute in San Francisco.In company news, Inmarsat slumped as the company reiterated its guidance for the year and said there's no material change in the trading environment for the group's performance.Ladbrokes gained after appointing Kristof Fahy as chief marketing officer to lead all brand and marketing activity across digital and retail.Hays was lower as the recruitment company said currency movements have had an impact on its quarterly earnings.Glencore declined on fresh fears over the company's mounting debt and the repercussions it could have on the banking sector. Analysts at Bank of America said: "The banking industry may have significantly more exposure to Glencore than is generally appreciated in the market." Market MoverstechMARK 3,015.72 0.00%FTSE 100 6,326.91 -0.15%FTSE 250 16,984.95 -0.27% FTSE 100 - RisersShire Plc (SHP) 4,383.00p +1.25%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,311.00p +1.22%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,120.50p +1.13%Fresnillo (FRES) 683.50p +1.11%Whitbread (WTB) 4,709.00p +1.07%Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 384.80p +1.00%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 646.00p +0.86%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,174.00p +0.79%easyJet (EZJ) 1,685.00p +0.78%Ashtead Group (AHT) 994.00p +0.76% FTSE 100 - FallersAviva (AV.) 471.20p -2.28%Inmarsat (ISAT) 959.50p -1.69%Glencore (GLEN) 121.90p -1.69%Kingfisher (KGF) 353.50p -1.39%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,955.00p -1.31%Next (NXT) 7,640.00p -1.10%Anglo American (AAL) 658.00p -0.98%BT Group (BT.A) 424.30p -0.92%WPP (WPP) 1,396.00p -0.92%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 524.30p -0.83% FTSE 250 - RisersNMC Health (NMC) 860.50p +3.67%Ladbrokes (LAD) 106.20p +2.61%Evraz (EVR) 91.40p +2.12%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 913.50p +2.07%Cineworld Group (CINE) 564.50p +1.44%FirstGroup (FGP) 99.55p +1.37%Indivior (INDV) 219.80p +1.34%Booker Group (BOK) 183.90p +1.27%Informa (INF) 577.00p +1.23%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 331.00p +1.19% FTSE 250 - FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,348.00p -3.92%Hays (HAS) 142.60p -3.32%Vesuvius (VSVS) 352.40p -2.33%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 566.00p -2.33%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 518.00p -2.26%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 119.90p -2.20%Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 342.10p -2.12%AO World (AO.) 160.10p -2.08%Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) 566.50p -1.99%Rank Group (RNK) 262.40p -1.87% FTSE TechMARK - RisersOxford Instruments (OXIG) 633.50p +3.60%Filtronic (FTC) 6.88p +1.85%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,648.00p +0.49%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 203.36 +0.13%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 7.66p +0.13% FTSE TechMARK - FallersNCC Group (NCC) 250.00p -1.77%KCOM Group (KCOM) 90.25p -0.82%Consort Medical (CSRT) 930.00p -0.69%SDL (SDL) 368.75p -0.61%Dialight (DIA) 663.50p -0.52%Ricardo (RCDO) 900.00p -0.28%