The FTSE 100 is set to buck the global trend and open higher in an attempt to reclaim the 6,200 level.
Despite American and Asian markets sliding overnight, the Footsie is set to open around 12 points higher at 6,195, according to spread betting quotes.
US markets retreated last night, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite the hardest hit of the three leading benchmarks, shedding 48 points (1%) at 4,605.
The S&P 500 tumbled 13 points (0.6%) to 1,990 and the Dow Jones average fell 100 points (0.6%) to 17,181.
In Asia, concerns over the Chinese economy were raised by the latest HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which fell to 49.5. A value below 50 signifies a contraction in activity. Economists had expected a value of around 49.8.
The number did not seem to faze investors in Shanghai, where the Composite index was up 36 points (1.2%) at 2,882, but the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down sharply, off 291 points (1.3%) at 22,738.
In Japan, the rising value of the yen was a concern, prompting a 344 points tumble (2.0%) to 16,753.
Back home, as crude prices flirt with a move below US$60, investors will quite understandably be interested in Petrofac’s trading update.
The sharp and volatile collapse in oil prices has many in the associated engineering and services sector braced for spending cuts across the sector.
Petrofac (LON:PFC) investors will be keen to get a steer on the group’s outlook for oil and the security of its order-book should ‘big oil’ slash budgets.
