The FTSE 100 is expected to drop 23 points (0.4 percent) after inching higher to 5,864.5. US equities were in decline yesterday after a speech by chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke.
Insurance focused investor Resolution (LON:RSL) led the blue chips with a gain of nearly 3 percent. British Gas parent company Centrica (LON:CNA) followed, rising 2.5 percent. Insurers Legal & General (LON:LGEN) and Admiral Group (LON:ADM) added just over 1.5 percent. Engineering company Weir Group (LON:WEIR), part-nationalised bank Lloyds (LON:LLOY) and Scottish & Southern Energy (LON:SSE) climbed 1.5 percent.
Hospitality company Whitbread (LON:WTB), engineering company Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) and publisher Reed Elsevier (LON:REL) were at the bottom of the pile with losses of almost 2 percent. Oil and gas engineering firm Amec (LON:AMEC) and gold miner Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) lost about 1.5 percent.
US markets were in selling mode yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 19 points (0.15 percent) to 12,070, the S&P 500 index and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite declined marginally to 1,284 and 2,701 respectively.
Intel Corp (NYSE:INTC) and DuPont (NYSE:DD) led the DJIA constituents, advancing 1 percent.
Cisco (NYSE:CSCO) was the heaviest faller, dropping 3 percent. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) followed, shedding 1.7 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose marginally to 9,446, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 7 points (0.25 percent) to 2,737.
Commodities
US light, sweet crude fell for July delivery to US$98.52/barrel. July Brent crude last traded at US$116.06/barrel.
Precious metals declined. Gold retreated to US$1,541/oz. Silver and platinum dropped to US$36.89/oz and US$1,823/oz respectively.
Base metals followed. Copper and nickel slipped to US$4.10/lb and US$10.25/lb respectively. Zinc last traded at US$1.015/lb.
Today’s macroeconomic data will include the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book survey of regional economic activity.