London pre-open: Stocks to start slightly lower after Chinese trade data
Stocks are expected to begin the session slightly lower following the release of weak Chinese trade data overnight and mixed remarks from US Federal Reserve officials.
The top flight index was being called to start the session 18 points lower from Monday's closing level of 6,371.18.
In parallel, as of 06:59 BST the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Composite Index was edging higher by 0.15% to 3,292.70 points.
When measured in US dollars Chinese imports shrank at a 20.5% year-on-year clip in September, Capital Economics calculated using data expressed in local-currency published by the country's customs administration.
That was considerably worse than the 12% fall the think-tank's economists had anticipated. Nonetheless, they stressed that the figures overstated the pace of decline due to the drop in global commodity prices.
On a more cautious note, Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda, told clients: "Many countries in the region rely heavily on sales to China so unless this demand picks up in the coming quarters, not only are we going to see below 7% growth in the world’s second largest economy, it’s going to decline sharply for many of its trade partners as well."
Investors were also waiting on the latest CPI data, for September, which was scheduled for release by ONS at 09:30 BST.
On the Continent, Germany's ZEW institute was set to release its economic confidence data for october.
On Monday evening US Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said the US central bank should hold off on any interest rate hike until it is clear that a global slowdown, trouble in China and other international risks will not push the US recovery off course.
Her counterpart at the Atlanta Fed, Dennis Lockhart, on the other hand, even left the door open to a rise in rates come the time of the October FOMC meeting.
SAB Miller accepts rival's offer
The FTSE 100 brewer announced the deal on Tuesday. Under the terms of the possible offer, SABMiller shareholders would receive £44 per share. The board of SABMiller has indicated to AB InBev it would be prepared to recommend the all-cash offer to shareholders.
Recruitment consultancy Michael Page posted a 10.2% increase in third-quarter gross profit to £139.2m thanks to good contributions from all four regions. At reported rates, third quarter growth was 4.8%, as foreign exchange volatility continued to impact results. The company said market and trading conditions across and within its regions was mixed, with EMEA recording its best quarter for almost four years, and particularly strong performances from France, Germany and Southern Europe.