London pre-open: Steep falls expected early on

3rd Jul 2013 07:50

Markets are expected to open with steep losses on Wednesday morning as nerves set in ahead of central-bank meetings on Thursday and the all-important US jobs report on Friday. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 60 points from yesterday's close of 6,304.Both the European Central Bank and Bank of England (BoE) are to reveal their latest policy decisions on Thursday afternoon with all eyes turning to Mark Carney as he heads up his first meeting as BoE Governor.Meanwhile, following an ADP jobs report on Wednesday, US non-farm payrolls are due out on Friday with markets waiting nervously given that a positive surprise could prompt the Federal Reserve to move more quickly to scale back its stimulus programme. "With the latest US payrolls report due out later this week and uncertainties surrounding the timing of a Fed tapering plan, investors seem content to sit on the side-lines for now, especially so given concerns about China's economic growth path," said Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.The Chinese non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) out this morning fell from 54.3 to a nine-month low of 53.9 in June."When talk of military intervention in Egypt is added to the mix as well as the spectre of a resumption of political uncertainty in Europe then you have the perfect recipe for Europe's markets open lower this morning," Hewson said.Stocks to watchTullow Oil in the first half drilled nine exploration wells and 11 appraisal wells across the portfolio with a 60% overall success ratio, according to a trading update on Wednesday. During the first six months of the year, the explorer made strong progress in Kenya with a new oil discovery at Etuko-1 and a significant upgrade to Ngamia and Twiga-South oil resources. Pizza delivery firm Domino's Pizza said strong momentum continued into the second quarter with sales rising by 11.7% from strong comparatives a year earlier. Sales rose to £147.6m in the 13 weeks to June 30th 2013 from £132.2m a year before while like-for-like (LFL) sales climbed 6.1%, compared to a 8.1% gain in 2012.