The FTSE 100 is expected to rise 16 points (0.25 percent) this morning after shedding 21.5 points (0.4 percent) on Monday to close at 5,693.
Satellite telecommunications firm Inmarsat (LON:ISAT) led the blue chips yesterday, surging 4.5 percent. International Airlines Group (LON:IAG) added 2.1 percent.
Telecom major Vodafone (LON:VOD) added 1.7 percent. Mining company Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) and beverage group SABMiller (LON:SAB) rose 1.5 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) was the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100, slipping 4.5 percent. Hedge fund manager Man Group (LON:EMG) fell 3.6 percent.
Financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HL), asset management firm Schroders (LON:SDRC), packaging group Rexam (LON:REX) and hotel and restaurant group Whitbread (LON:WTB) all declined about 3 percent.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) advanced 76 points (0.65 percent) to 12,080, the S&P 500 index rose 7 points (0.55 percent) to 1,278 and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite rose 13 points (0.5 percent) to 2,629.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) led the DJIA components, advancing 2.3 percent. DuPont (NYSE:DD) added 1.7 percent. United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), Cisco (NYSE:CSCO), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) all tacked on around 1 percent.
Asian markets were in buying mode today. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rallied 83 points (0.9 percent) to 9,438 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 13.5 points (0.5 percent) to 2,634.
Commodities
Oil and metal prices rose overnight after falling on Monday.
US light, sweet crude for August delivery climbed to US$94.46/barrel in Asian trade overnight. August Brent crude traded at US$111.87/barrel in early morning UK time.
Gold inched higher to US$1,542/oz by morning London time. Silver declined to US$35.89/oz and platinum rose to US$1,739/oz.
Base metals were on the rise. Copper and nickel climbed to US$4.11/lb and US$9.97/lb respectively. Zinc stood at US$0.998/lb in the morning.
Today’s macroeconomic data will include US existing home sales.