London pre-open: Modest gains ahead of busy week

30th Jun 2014 07:47

With traders set for a busier week than has been seen of late, the FTSE is expected to open around 10 points higher from Friday's close of 6,757.77, as investors gear up for multiple central bank decisions taking place in the next few days. Due out this morning are figures on consumer credit and mortgage approvals, although plenty of today's releases are just noise, according to Alpari Market Analyst Craig Erlam."While I wouldn't claim they should be ignored altogether, there are many that are likely to have minimal, if any, market impact, while others have the potential to significantly move markets," he explained. What stands out in this week's calendar of events are the latest Eurozone manufacturing figures and Thursday's European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting. While no one expects the ECB to unveil any new measures, it will likely pay to keep close tabs on President Mario Draghi's words.Giving his summary of the most recent picture on the global markets, SpeadEx's Lee Mumford said: "Asian stocks stepped towards cautious gains overnight whilst Japanese shares slipped following a firmer yen. The US dollar drifted lower ahead of a packed week of economic data. Emerging markets also advanced, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index heading for its biggest quarterly advance since September 2012. "European futures are signalling a marginally higher open for equities ahead of European CPI flash estimate at 10:00. Early figures this morning has shown that German Retail Sales failed to meet the +0.8% forecast, falling to a seasonally adjusted -0.6%."Here in the UK, this morning's company news included defence group BAE Systems announcing it is launching a shake-up of its businesses in Saudi Arabia, bringing together its stakes and those of partner Riyadh Wings Aviation Academy in companies specialising in training, electronics and IT systems engineering under a single holding company. FTSE 100 sports retailer Sports Direct has announced, following recent press speculation, that it is not considering an offer to acquire specialist footwear retailer OFFICE. Sports Direct, which is owned by Newcastle United Chairman Mike Ashley, said: "Such speculation is unhelpful to the customers, staff, suppliers and other stakeholders of both companies, particularly as Sports Direct focuses on building brand support for the Premium Lifestyle format - USC / Republic."Coca-Cola HBC is planning to pull its shares from the US stock market after experiencing low trading volume. The company announced this morning that it intends to delist from the New York Stock Exchange and deregister its shares with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on or around July 24th.Merlin Entertainment has announced plans to open a Legoland park in Japan under its operated and leased model. The park will cost around £185m, of which Merlin will invest around £53m over the next three years. Japan is the second biggest theme park market in the world.NR