FTSE preview: Rebound led by defensive stocks
The FTSE 100 is seen opening up 7 to 10 points, rallying after falls in the previous session in tandem with a turnaround to gains on Wall Street, although Asian equities remained cautious.
Friday feeling: Focus on US inflation figures
The blue-chip index closed 31.04 points lower at 5,944.96 on Thursday as a re-emergence of global growth concerns triggered a fall in commodity-linked stocks and boosted investors' appetite for defensive assets.
'Based on the current pattern developing on the 240-minute chart, it seems that investors are trying to form a double-bottom at 5,858.22 and 5,871.57, proving that there still may be a little life left in this strong long-term bull market,' said James A. Hyerczyk, analyst at Autochartist.
'With the market currently holding a pair of bottoms, bullish traders may be trying to drive this market back through the recent top at 6,103.73 and the high for the year at 6,105.77,' Hyerczyk added.
Defensive shares led a rebound in US blue chips on Thursday with investors weighing mixed US economic signals and recent volatility in commodities as they searched for direction.
However, in Asia equities were poised for their second consecutive week of losses, with Japan's Nikkei down 1.1% on Friday after opening slightly higher.
No major British economic data will be released on Friday, so the main focus will be on US inflation numbers later.
April US CPI is forecast to be up 0.4% on the month, after a 0.5% rise in March, giving an annualised increase of 3.1% in April, up from 2.7% in the previous month.
Stocks to watch today include:
Royal Dutch Shell: The oil major will submit an exploration plan for Alaska's Chukchi Sea, as it continues its long-delayed bid to tap vast oil and gas resources in Arctic waters.
BHP Billiton: The global miner said on Friday it was a step closer to expanding its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in Australia after gaining clearance to release an environmental impact report to the public for scrutiny. [
HSBC: The global lender plans to hire more than 1,000 staff in Singapore over the next five years to help it double its profit before tax from the city-state, the bank's Singapore CEO said in remarks published on Friday.
Banking stocks: The world's major banks are likely to be hit by capital surcharges that increase progressively based on their size, how they are connected to other banks and how easily they could be replaced in a crisis, global financial regulators have said, the Financial Times reported.
Shire: The drugmaker rose on talk of a possible predatory strike by AstraZeneca, according to the Daily Express market report.
Northumbrian Water: The water company was lifted on Thursday by talk that its biggest shareholder, Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers, could launch a 450-pence-a-share offer, according to the Daily Express market report.
Stobart Group: The Financial Services Authority is examining a controversial deal which would see freight company Stobart Group buy back a property portfolio from its chief executive, The Daily Telegraph said.
Kazakhmys: The miner holds its annual general meeting.
Petrofac: The oil services group issues a trading update.
London Stock Exchange: The bourses operator posts full-year results.
Spectris: The engineering group issues a trading update.
Dignity: The funerals group issues a first-quarter trading update.
Oxford Catalysts Group: The synthetic fuels firm reports full-year results.
Charlemagne Capital: The fund management group holds its annual general meeting.
T Clarke: The electrical contractor holds its annual general meeting.
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