London pre-open: Flat start for FTSE after partial US government shutdown

1st Oct 2013 07:30

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around two points lower than Monday's close of 6,462.22 after the US government was forced to begin a partial suspension of non-essential services, having failed to agree a budget for next year - this is its first shutdown in 17 years. In an afternoon vote yesterday, the Senate shot down a House of Representatives-passed bill agreed over the weekend that had called for a one-year delay in President Barack Obama's flagship Affordable Care Act, something that the Democrats said they would not agree to. Lawmakers had until midnight on Monday to pass an emergency measure before the start of the 2014 fiscal year."Clearly both the Democrats and Republicans are more concerned with gaining political points and pointing the finger than actually doing what they're elected to do," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.On today's agenda, unemployment figures in the Eurozone and Germany, and manufacturing data in the UK and the US, will take precedence on the economic calendar.The Eurozone unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 12.1% when the report for September is released.Germany's jobless rate is also forecast to remain unchanged at 6.9% in September.Also in Germany the purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturing is expected to show a reading of 51.3 in September, while Eurozone PMI is pegged to come in at 51.1, above the 50 mark that signals expansion.The data will come a day after European Central Bank (ECB) member Jozef Makuch said the monetary authority stands ready to pump more liquidity into the market if needed.In other news, from today the adult national minimum wage will increase from £6.19 to £6.31 an hour, as announced back in April. Company wise, engineering giant Kentz Corporation has scored a contract to provide commissioning and start-up services to Bantrel Co. The company will support a major steam-assisted gravity drainage operation south-east of Fort McMurray, Canada, with electrical checkout including motors and electrical testing activities.Property investment and development business St. Modwen Properties said it has continued to perform strongly since the half year, buoyed by a strengthening housing market, and it remains confident of hitting full year targets. "Whilst recovery in some areas of the market remains slower, improving consumer sentiment, supportive government schemes and an increasingly stable economy are contributing to a notably more positive market outlook than we have seen for some time," the group said in a company statement.FTSE 100 plumbers merchant Wolseley said it experienced a year of 'solid progress in varied markets' as it saw profits more than double in the year to July 31st due to lower impairments and exceptional items. Pre-tax profit totalled £473m, up from £198m the year before, as one-off charges dropped to just £174m from £377m. Total revenue dipped from £13.42bn to £13.15bn.Informa has announced the completion of the sale of its five Corporate Training businesses to Providence Equity Partners after the terms were agreed at the end of July. NR