FTSE preview: Gains on Japan stablility hope
The FTSE 100 is seen edging higher on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, steadying after sharp falls in the previous session, although traders said concerns over the nuclear crisis in Japan will remain paramount.
Eastern promise: Shares took heart from news that the nuclear situation may be coming under control.
The UK blue chip index is seen opening up 2-8 points, or 0.1% on Thursday having closed down 97.05 points, or 1.7% on Wednesday at 5,598.23 as heightened fears about the crisis in Japan saw investors shun equities, led by falls by banks and heavyweight commodity issues.
The FTSE 100 index ended down for a sixth consecutive session on Wednesday taking its total fall over that period to 6.3%.
On Wall Street, US stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes dropping into negative territory for the year after US officials said the risk of a catastrophic radiation leak from an earthquake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant was rising.
Operators of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, said they were trying again on Thursday to use military helicopters to douse the plant's overheating reactors.
Asian equities were weaker on Thursday in very volatile trade, but were off session lows as investors scrutinised any news about the Japanese nuclear plant.
'Some slightly more positive news from Japan over attempts to avert a full-blown nuclear catastrophe has helped add a degree of stability to shares during the Asian session, but the situation is still very much hanging in the balance,' Peter Stanhope, Institutional trader at IG Markets, said.
No important British economic data will be released on Thursday to provide any other direction, although investors will have a batch of US pointers to look at in the afternoon.
February US CPI numbers will be the main interest together with the latest weekly jobless claims, while March's Philly Fed index and February lead indicators will be released.
Legal & General reports full-year results today.
Barclays, Bank of America, and Citigroup have received subpoenas from US regulators probing the setting of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for US dollars between 2006 and 2008, the Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the investigation.
Heritage Oil has rejected an informal £1.2bn takeover bid from a Middle Eastern company, the Financial Times said on Thursday.
JJB Sports on Wednesday won the support of one of its biggest landlords for a restructuring plan under which it would close some stores to stay in business.
There will be updates today from Investec, Premier Farnell, Aegis Group, SIG, Savills, Panmure Gordon, Arbuthnot Banking Group and TT Electronics.
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