London pre-open: Stocks seen lower after Yellen signals December rate hike
London stocks are called to open lower on Thursday, taking their cue from a downbeat session on Wall Street after Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen and Fed Bank of Atlanta president Dennis Lockhart signalled a rate rise this month.
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 25 points lower than Wednesday’s close at 6,395.
On the macroeconomic front, investors will eye services PMI for November at 0930 GMT, while in the US, initial jobless claims are at 1330 GMT, followed by industrial new orders and ISM non-manufacturing at 1500 GMT.
In Europe, all eyes will be on the rate announcement from the European Central Bank at 1245 GMT.
“Markets appear to be pricing in a deposit rate cut of at least -0.2% to -0.4% if German 2-year yields are any guide, as well as a possible increase to the monthly amount of stimulus from €60bn, and an extension to the duration, beyond September 2016,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
“It is highly improbable that Mr Draghi will be able to deliver on all three of these given recently voiced disquiet amongst some ECB members about further measures, which means today’s meeting is more than likely set to disappoint. As with all press conferences the tone will be all important as will the revised inflation and growth projections.
Sky said it had invested $0.3m in LA-based TV4 Entertainment, which owns a growing portfolio of special-interest television channels aimed at audiences which are “typically underserved by traditional TV companies”.
The channels are distributed across multiple online platforms in the US including Hulu, Amazon, Sony, Vimeo, YouTube, and Roku.
Barclays has announced it will sell its Italian retail banking network to CheBanca!, a member of the Mediobanca Group.
The FTSE 100 bank announced the deal on Thursday, which comprises of 89 branches and a broadly balanced portfolio of assets and liabilities.
It will continue to operate investment banking and corporate banking in Italy, and manage the remaining retail mortgage portfolio.
Barclays Group chief executive Jes Staley said the deal is further evidence of the re-shaping of the bank to focus on its core businesses.
Royal Dutch Shell's proposed combination with BG Group was a step closer on Thursday morning, with approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).
The approval followed an unconditional tick from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on 19 November, and brought the total number of pre-conditions met to four.
Approval from China's Ministry of Commerce was the only condition that remained.