Today's top story: Bank of England boss lowers Brexit job loss estimate
All eyes are on the pound today after Mark Carney said yesterday that interest rates may not rise next month.
But the FTSE is expected to open higher, up 0.24 per cent at 7347. But it's a fairly flat morning for other European markets, with Germany's Dax likely to decline 0.06 per cent to 12,560 and the French Cac bound for a 0.04 per cent rise to 5,394, according to IG.
Asian tech shares were spooked overnight by a warning from Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest chipmaker, saying the market is slowing down. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.8 per cent, weighed on by a fall in tech stocks. Japan's Nikkei regained ground to rise 0.1 per cent.
Corporate news
- Royal Mail – CEO Moya Greene has announced her retirement in September
- Reckitt Benckiser – the consumer goods giant provides an update for the first quarter today.
- Nintendo – the launch of a cardboard piano and fishing rod accessories to a two-week high on Friday.
Data
- 10:30 – Bank of England MPC member Saunders speech
- 16:15 – European consumer confidence (April)
- 16:00 – Baker Hughes US oil rig count
