London pre-open: Iron ore steady, miners lower

Britain's top flight index is being called to slightly higher on the back of slightly stronger-than-expected inflation data out of China overnight, although miners were again under pressure in Sydney after another tumble for iron ore futures.

The Footsie is seen rising by 26 points from Monday's closing mark of 6,114.81.

Consumer prices in the People's Republic of China held steady at 2.3% year-on-year in April, for a fourth consecutive month, as expected by analysts.

However, factory gate deflation decreased from -4.3% year-on-year in March to 3.4% in April, as energy prices rebounded.

"Following 26 straight months in negative territory, the m/m change in producer prices was positive in March and April, which should ease concerns over deflation," analysts at Capital Economics said in a research report sent to clients.

The think-tank forecast CPI in China would remain close to current levels throughout the remained of this year.

Iron ore steady, miners down

Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange were down by about 5.1% weighing on shares of miners such as BHP Billiton in Sydney trading, which retreated by 3.15% to $AUD17.83.

However, the SGX AsiaClear contract for June settlement was nearly unchanged in late trading at $50.94 per metric tonne after earlier dipping below the $50 mark for the first time since March, according to Bloomberg data.

Trading on the main Asian bourses overnight was positive in most cases. The Nikkei-225 was a stand-out gainer, rising 2.15% to 16,565.19 as dollar/yen edged up by 0.43% to reach 108.79.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange's Composite index on the other hand was down a tad as of 07:22BST, drifting lower by -0.09% to 2,829.468.

German economy still on track for strong growth in Q1

German industrial production declined 1.3% month-on-month in March, with construction sector output off by an out-sized 3.2% over the month, far outpacing economists forecasts for a retreat of 0.2%.

Nonetheless, Tuesday's data did little to change the narrative of a sharp 1.8% rebound quarter-on-quarter, after a drop of 0.3% in the previous three months.

"This points to a strong GDP print later this week, and suggests that the consensus’ prediction of an upbeat 0.6% quarter-on-quarter is within reach," Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a research report sent to clients.

Trade data for the month of March is scheduled for release at 09:30 BST, courtesy of ONS.

Easyjet exudes confidence despite FX movements

Low-cost carrier easyJet swung to a loss in its half-year numbers on Tuesday, reporting a loss before tax of £24m for the six months to 31 March, against a £7m profit a year earlier. The Luton-based FTSE 100 firm saw total revenue grow 0.3% over the same period, to £1.771bn from £1.767bn. It partly blamed the loss on foreign exchange effects, stating a constant currency profit before tax of £5m.“"We are confident that over the full year we will again grow passenger numbers, revenue and profit,” said chief executive Carolyn McCall on the results.

Outsourcing group Capita said it was confident of hitting full year targets despite having secured less than half the amount of contracts as at the same time last year. Capita secured £458m aggregate major contracts, acquired four companies and disposed of two businesses, versus £1.2bn secured and seven businesses acquired last May.