LONDON (ShareCast) - 1608: Following the release of the latest factory orders numbers US first quarter GDP growth is seen tracking at -1.1% by analyst Jesse Hurwitz at Barclays.
1330: Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann has dismissed concerns about deflation in Europe as "completely unjustified" and warned against misusing the European Central Bank (ECB) as the savior of Greece. Weidmann expressed concern about increasing politicisation of central banks and warned that there was a danger of too many demands being made of central banks, saying they are not in position to solve Europe's problems. In an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, the central banker criticised the weekly topping up of ELA credit to greek banks and said: "The decision on the future of Greece in the currency union is in the hands of politicians."

1330: Initial weekly unemployment claims slipped by 1,000 in the week ending on 9 May to reach 264,000, according to the Department of Labour. That compared with Barclays's forecast for a print of 270,000. The four week moving average fell by 7,750 to hit 271,750, its lowest level since 22 April, 2000.

1300: After an "extraordinarily quiet morning", Morgan Stanley's US equities team reckons the US session's big event "will probably wind up being Draghi's address at the IMF", which begins at 11:00 in Washington. No major US economic data is released and the Fed speaker circuit is quiet. Meanwhile, the US bank's trading commentary also noted that bond markets were relatively quiet with 10-year yields flat-to-down slightly in Europe and the US, with Bund yields flattish at 0.72% while 10-year T-bill yields off roughly 3 basis points.

1145: RBS shares are edging 0.4% higher at after kind words from JPMorgan Cazenove. The US broker kept a 'neutral' rating on the stock, but said RBS "remains on the right strategic track" despite its recent underperformance against the sector. The US broker said that a sell-down of the government's stake in RBS and the resolution of ongoing litigation charges will be "key milestones" for the bank's long-term turnaround.

1000: Stocks have mostly erased losses with 3i and Hikma extending gains after results, with airlines IAG and Easyjet also buoying markets. "Eurozone equity markets are still shaky from the Greek situation, but they are recovering slightly as short covering kicks in," said IG analyst David Madden.


0912: A number of blue-chip stocks are trading lower after going ex-dividend, including Aberdeen, Shell, Glaxosmithkline, Kingfisher and J Sainsbury. The FTSE is trading around 0.3% lower.

0830: UK stocks are lower ahead of a quiet session in terms of economic data with US jobless claims the only major release. Corporate earnings have come in mixed: British Land and ITV are in the red after results, while Hikma, Merlin Entertainments and 3i Group are trading higher. Sentiment was also dampened by reports that the Greek finance minister has requested debt repayment to the ECB over July and August to be pushed back.

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