Date: Tuesday 12 Aug 2014
LONDON (ShareCast) - 1630: Close The FTSE 100 fell 0.40 points to 6632.42 as geopolitical tensions grew. Ukraine has said it will not allow a Russian convoy carrying humanitarian aid to enter its territory. Russia sent almost 300 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine early on Tuesday morning.
In Iraq, tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped by fighters from Islamic State (IS) on a mountain in northern Iraq, the United Nations said. Meanwhile, negotiations to end the month-long conflict between Israel and Hamas have made little progress, officials said.
1500: US job openings reached their highest level in 13 years, while hiring also picked up, according to official figures released by the Labor Department on Tuesday. An indication of labour demand, seasonally adjusted job openings increased to 4.67m in June, the highest level since February 2001 and a 0.5% increase from May, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
1353: US stock futures have erased gains and are pointing to a flat start on Wall Street ahead of labour-market data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the job openings and labour turnover survey (JOLTS) after the opening bell which is forecast to show that job openings totalled 4.55m in June, down from 4.64m in May.
1340: US crude oil futures were down 0.8% at $97.28 a barrel after the International Energy Agency said global oil demand would increase by less than initially estimated this year.
1144: The Ukrainian government's spokesman says aid should not enter the country until Red Cross assesses needs, which may take one week.
1000: The German ZEW surveys have missed consensus forecasts. The headline economic sentiment index dropped from 27.1 to just 8.6 (forecast: 17), its lowest since December 2012. Meanwhile, the current situation index dropped from 61.8 to 44.3 (forecast: 54).
0916 Prudential increases IFRS operating profit by 17% to £1.52bn.
0852: UBS initiates coverage of Hargreaves Lansdown with a 'sell' recommendation.
0845: UK stocks have started the session slightly lower, with investors focused on a Russian convoy, purportedly carrying humanitarian aid, which is headed towards Ukraine. The International Red Cross had agreed - in principle - to such an operation. However, on Tuesday representatives of the organisation said they had no information regarding the contents of the convoy - a requirement before they could agree to such a mission, the BBC reported. Shares of Hargreaves Lansdown are at the bottom of the pile on the Footsie. Out on the FTSE 250 Just Eat, Serco, Ladbrokes and SIG are heading up gains following their latest interim results. FTSE 100 up 11 to 6,621.
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