London pre-open: All eyes on the ECB

5th Mar 2015 07:44

Futures are now pointing to a nearly flat start today for the Footsie, as investors wait on tomorrow's US non-farm payrolls data and ahead of today's Bank of England and European Central Bank policy meetings.The ECB is on Thursday expected to provide further details of its €1.1trn quantitative easing (QE) programme, which may begin purchases as soon as tomorrow or next Monday. A decision is also expected on the central bank's ELA financing facility for Greece.Overnight authorities in Beijing announced a new target for the country's gross domestic product of around 7%. In parallel, China indicated that government spending will be boosted to underpin the economy's expansion.Stocks to watchThe London Stock Exchange saw revenues rise by 32% to £1.28bn in the last financial year, with organic revenues higher by 12% on an organic and constant currency basis. On an adjusted basis profits before tax improved 19% to hit £491.7m. For the full-year the company has proposed a final dividend of 12.8%, an improvement of 6.5% on an equivalent basis.After a year of senior management change and difficult market conditions, Aggreko saw profits decline 13%, as expected by analysts. For the year ahead, management said incremental mobilisation costs will impact first half results, but overall they currently expect underlying trading profit to be broadly in line with last year.Schroders reports full year 2014 pre-tax up 16% to £517.1m and assets under management up 14% to £300bn. The group generated net new business of £24.8bn compared to £7.9bn in 2013 due to competitive investment performance across a broad product range and strong distribution. The asset manager is paying a 78p dividend for the year, a 34% increase on 2013. Schroders boss Michael Dobson says that markets may stay resilient in the low interest rate environment, but "we expect to see greater volatility in markets and therefore in investor demand in 2015."