FTSE 100 preview: Shares to follow US lower
The FTSE 100 is seen opening lower, tracking weakness overnight in Asia and pre-weekend on Wall Street.
Blue Monday: Shares are expected to start the week lower.
The British blue-chip index closed 41.49 points, or 0.9%, lower on Friday at 4,713.97 dented by data which showed a weakening in US consumer sentiment, fuelling concerns about the strength of an economic recovery.
US stocks fell broadly on Friday, with the major indexes snapping a four-week streak of gains after the data from the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers showed consumer confidence fell more than expected in early August, dropping to its lowest level since March.
Japan's Nikkei average fell 2.2% on Monday, retreating from 10-month highs, with exporters hit as the yen rose against the dollar on concerns about how quickly the US economy will recover.
Japan's economy grew 0.9% in April-June from the previous quarter, marking the first expansion in five quarters and in line with a median market forecast for 1% growth, data showed before the start of trade.
Asking prices for homes in England and Wales are an average 3.1% lower this month than a year ago, property web site Rightmove said.
That matched July's annual fall, but a monthly decline of 2.2% this month more than reversed July's 0.6% rise from June, leaving the average price of a home at 222,762 pounds.
Britain's economy should return to growth in the second half of 2009, although the speed of recovery will depend on the effect of bank lending constraints and the state of the global economy, Bank of England policymaker Andrew Sentance said in an article for the Sunday Times newspaper.
No other British economic data is due for release so investors will look ahead to the afternoon release of the US Empire State index for August, which is expected to rise to 1.00, up from -0.55 in July, and the US NAHB index for August, which is seen rising to a reading of 18, up from 17 in July.
Barclays is attempting to recruit five JP Morgan investment bankers with a bonus package worth a total of £30m, The Sunday Telegraph reported, without citing sources.
Also, Barclays and Societe Generale have received investment banking licences for Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times reported on Monday, quoting the Saudi markets regulator.
Britain's financial regulator has launched a supervisory review of Royal Bank of Scotland's takeover of ABN Amro, the Scottish bank said on Sunday.
Royal Dutch Shell has made a £1.5bn approach for Australian coal seam gas producer Arrow Energy, The Sunday Telegraph reported, without citing sources.
British American Tobacco has recruited Richard Burrows, a former Bank of Ireland chairman, to be its new chairman, The Sunday Times reported, without citing sources.
The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said on Monday it would negotiate with the three top iron ore miners, using the price it agreed with Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group as a reference.
Australian packaging group Amcor Ltd is set to buy Rio Tinto's Alcan packaging unit for $2bn, Australian media reported Monday.
Xstrata has redoubled its attempt to win over the investors of its rival and merger target Anglo American, The Guardian said on Monday. Xstrata also hopes that Anglo's new chairman, Sir John Parker, will be more receptive to the benefits of a tie-up than the rest of the board, who have so far been unreceptive to the case presented by its rival, the newspaper added.
BSkyB has written to the BBC Trust expressing serious concerns over the Trust's handling of Project Canvas, a plan drawn up by the BBC in partnership with ITV, BT and Five, which aims to create an internet-connected successor to the Freeview broadcast service, the Financial Times said on Monday.
Diageo, the world's biggest spirits group, said on Sunday it was taking legal action against British grocer J Sainsbury, over alleged copyright infringement of its Pimm's brand.
ITV's target of a 38.5% 'share of commercial impacts' by the time of the switch to digital in 2012 has so far not been met, the Daily Telegraph said on Monday.
There will be result announcements today from Michael Page, Hill & Smith and Dragon Oil.
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