FTSE 100 preview: Profit-taking hits shares
The FTSE 100 is seen opening down, reversing the previous session's gains as investors look set to book profits after a substantial rise on the index this week.
Booking profits: The index is likely to fall back today.
The FTSE ended 0.7% higher on Wednesday, and touched an intra-day high at levels not seen since September 2008, after a jump in Chinese factory growth and reassuring UK jobless data spurred demand for riskier assets.
The index is up 2.4% so far this week and is on track to post its best weekly gain since mid October.
Weakness on the FTSE is seen mirroring falls in Asia as Japanese shares closed lower while elsewhere in the region stocks edged down. Meanwhile on Wall Street overnight shares hit fresh 13-month highs, seen as offering some support to the FTSE.
A raft of corporate results from UK companies is seen giving direction to shares in the absence of any significant economic data from Britain on Thursday.
Data set for release from across the Atlantic include the US Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage market index and the US weekly jobless claims.
In a busy day for corporate news, there will be updates today from Eurasian Natural Resources, BT Group, Serco, Centrica, Reed Elsevier, £1 Group, Amec, WH Smith, Trinity Mirror, Ladbrokes, Dairy Crest, Galiform Hikma Pharmaceutical and SIG.
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