FTSE 100 set for a spot of quiet consolidation

After a record-breaking week for some stock market indices, among them the FTSE 250, a pause for breath seems in order. Spread betting quotes indicate the FTSE 100 will open just 4 points to the good at 6,946. “European markets look set to open in positive territory this morning, as they look to continue where they left off yesterday after US markets finished higher with another record close for the S&P500, as it got to within a whisker of 4,100, led predominantly by the tech sector,” said CMC’s Michael Hewson. “Asia markets ended the week on a more mixed note with the latest China inflation data pointing to a decent rebound in March. Factory gate prices, in particular, were strong rising 4.4% on an annualised basis, compared to 1.7% in February, as economic activity picked up at the end of Q1. As a forward indicator this could well be an arbiter of rising prices rippling out into the global economy as we head into Q2,” he added. Jeffrey Halley at OANDA said the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, stayed “solidly on message” overnight, once again emphasising the “Fed's priority in assisting the US employment recovery while dismissing inflation concerns as transitory”. The comments came after the Dow Jones index had climbed 57 points to close at 33,504 and the S&P 500 had risen 17 points to finish at 4,097. In Japan this morning, the Nikkei 225 has advanced 204 points to 29,913 but in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index is down 212 points at 28,796, after the US sent seven Chinese supercomputing firms to the naughty step with an export ban. Looking at today’s agenda, you’d have thought that in a shortened week (because of Easter) there would be some company results scheduled, even on what is traditionally a quiet day of the week for corporate announcements, but you’d be wrong. It’s too soon after the end of the quarter and too long after the end of the year. There are sure to be some announcements but the usual sources have not been given notice of what they are. That leaves the Halifax house price index as the major “known unknown”, as Donald Rumsfeld might put it. The March index is expected to rise 0.2% from February’s level after falling 0.1% in February. On the face of it, that looks like a rebound but the annual increase in the index is expected to retreat to 5.1% from February’s 5.2%. n the US, the March producer price index is expected to a 0.4% increase, which represents a slight slowdown from February’s 0.5%. US wholesale inventories, which on a normal day would be far down the bill below the sword swallowers and contortionists, might also garner some attention from insomniac traders. Economists are expecting a 0.5% advance for February, following February’s 1.3% gain. Around the markets Sterling: US$1.3726, down 0.1 cents 10-year gilt: 0.751%, down 2.63 bps Gold: US$1,752.60 an ounce, down US$5.60 Brent crude: US$63.18 a barrel, down 2 cents Bitcoin: US$58,216, up US$534