London pre-open: Stocks to slide lower ahead of European data

25th Feb 2014 07:20

- FTSE to open 14 points lower- Focus on German Q4 GDP- Persimmon posts strong 2013 revenueUK stocks look set to largely ignore gains seen in both Asia and the US overnight to start the day's session in the red, as traders await data out from Germany and the European Commission.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 14 points lower than yesterday's close of 6,865.86.The main US equity benchmarks ended yesterday on the up, although off their best levels of the session, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen smoothed over concerns about the impact monetary stimulus 'tapering' would have on emerging markets. Today, attention will focused on the first revision of Germany's fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP), which is widely forecast to come in unchanged at 0.4%. As noted by Alpari Market Analyst, Craig Erlam, "in the last couple of years, these figures have rarely been revised, in fact only one of the last eight have been revised so there's no reason to assume this morning's will be any difference". However, he added: "On the same note though, that means that any revision could prompt a reaction in the markets, especially with the country currently being the engine for growth in the Eurozone at the moment."The European Commission is due to release its economic growth forecasts for the Eurozone this morning, giving its predictions for the economy in the coming two years. This will prove interesting given indications from the European Central Bank's President, Mario Draghi, at the weekend that the bank may choose to ease monetary policy at its next meeting. "The forecasts released today could give us some insight into what the ECBs own forecasts will be, which will only assist us in predicting exactly what the ECB will do," Erlam continued. "At this stage, I don't see the ECB doing anything rash and I can't imagine these forecasts changing that, but as with all central banks in recent years, the ECB can be unpredictable so it shouldn't be written off."WPP to acquire Polish marketing firmIn this morning's company announcements, WPP revealed it has agreed to acquire Lemon Sky, a leading creative digital marketing company in Poland. The group, which was founded in 2000 and employs around 70 people, specialises in producing digital advertising and campaign services, with clients including Nestle, Orange, and Tesco. Housebuilder Persimmon reported a 21% rise in 2013 revenue to £2.1bn against the previous year as prices accelerated amid an improving UK market. Underlying pre-tax profit for the year through December 2013 jumped 49% to £330m. Operating margins increased to 16% from 12.9% the prior year, as the average selling price of homes climbed 4% to £181,861.Strong demand for car parts has driven sales and underlying profits higher at engineering group GKN, helping to offset a decline in the military aerospace market. Severe winter conditions and weaker trading in Europe combined to hit full-year results at construction materials group CRH, which reported a 6% decline in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to €1.47bn. Revenues were flat at €18bn and losses per share were 40.6c against 2012 earnings per share of 74.6c. NR