London pre-open: FTSE to extend gains ahead of busy session

3rd Dec 2014 07:44

Tracking gains seen in the US overnight, but tempered by a mixed session in Asia, City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 11 points higher than Tuesday's close of 6,742.10.Attention is expected to move some degree away from oil, which has dominated markets in recent days, and turn instead to economic data from around the globe.Overnight, Australian gross domestic product (GDP) growth was unveiled at 2.7%, below expectations of 3.1%, knocking the Australian dollar to a four-year low against the greenback."The poor data was confounded by gross domestic income actually contracting by 0.4% in the quarter meaning that that despite a positive GDP reading Australians were actually worse off due to the prices of exports fell alarmingly," explained Alpari market analyst James Hughes."This pushes the Australian economy into income recession meaning that there is now real pressure on the central bank to potentially cut interest rates in the coming months."Wednesday will also see the release of George Osborne's Autumn Budget Statement, although many analysts are predicting it will be seen as a political rather than an economic event.Attention will also be focused on the batch of services activity data that is due to be released out of China, the UK, the Eurozone and the US.Also on the cards is a report on Eurozone retail sales, which is projected to show a 1.6% rise in October following a 0.6% increase a month earlier.In the US, the ADP will publish its jobs report, which is expected to reveal US employers added 224,000 jobs in November.Federal Reserve official Charles Plosser speaks on the economic outlook in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 17:30 London time, while his colleague Lael Brainard will speak on financial stability in Washington at 19:00.At the same time the central bank also releases its Beige Book, which will outline the outlook on current economic conditions.The market will be searching for clues as to when the Fed will raise interest rates.In company news, London Stock Exchange Group has completed the acquisition of Frank Russell Company, marking a "significant step for the company". It said the comprehensive review of Russell's investment management business was making good progress and is on track to be completed early in 2015.Accountancy software group Sage hailed higher annual profits and the achievement of key financial milestones for 2014 and said it was on track to hit financial targets for 2015, although 2014 revenues fell. It also cautioned that revenue growth next year was likely to be weighted to the second half.Chile-focused copper producer Antofagasta has pinched a resource industry veteran from rival Codelco, naming him as the new boss of its mining division. Iván Arriagada Herrera will become the chief executive officer of Antofagasta Minerals on 16 February 2015. Arriagada, 51, has been working as vice president of administration and finance at Chilean state-owner copper mining company Codelco since 2012.