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London open: FTSE flat ahead of FOMC interest rate decision
The FTSE 100 was flat on Wednesday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement.
The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.50% amid worries about risks stemming from the slowdown in emerging economies and falls in oil prices.
With no surprises anticipated, all eyes will be on the accompanying statement for clues on the timing of the next interest rates hike.
Last month the Fed decided to raise rates by 25 basis points, marking the first increase in almost a decade.
“Since the previous meeting in December the economic landscape has changed drastically with stock markets, oil prices and global growth forecasts all following a negative trajectory, while economic data from the States have been lacklustre,” said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga.
“Fundamentally these factors should dim the prospects of future rate hikes but with ongoing discussions suggesting that the Fed made a mistake by raising US rates in the first place, it seems likely that the minutes may adopt a hawkish bias similar to December in an attempt to retain credibility and prevent further disruption in the financial markets.”
Meanwhile, oil prices reversed gains registered in Tuesday’s afternoon session. Brent crude fell 1.5% to $31.33 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 2.5% to $30.68 per barrel.
“The impact of Brent Crude’s latest tumble (with the black stuff around one dollar above the $30 per barrel threshold it has been dancing around for the past couple of weeks) and the subsequent declines seen in the oil and mining sectors is the most immediate drag on the UK index this Wednesday,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.
In economic data, a report from Nationwide showed house prices rose 4.4% year-on-year in January compared to 4.5% in December. Analysts had pencilled in a 4.7% increase for this month.
Still to come, the British Bankers’ Association publishes its report on loans for house purchases at 0930 GMT, the Mortgage Bankers Association releases its weekly US mortgage applications figures at 1200 GMT, while data on US new home sales is due at 1500 GMT and a report on US crude oil inventories will be released at 1530 GMT.
Among corporate stocks Royal Bank of Scotland declined after the bank confirmed it will make a loss for 2015 and said it will set aside £500m of PPI provisions, $2.2bn (£1.5bn) for US residential mortgage-backed securities probes, and £4.2bn into its pension fund.
Rio Tinto was in the red as it agreed to sell its Mount Pleasant thermal coal project in Australia for an initial $83m rising to $224m (£156m) plus future royalties.
Antofagasta slid as it reported a 10.6% drop in copper production for the full year to 630,300 tonnes, due to lower output at Los Pelambres and Centinela.
The Sage Group rallied after reporting a 6.6% rise in revenue for the three months to 31 December, driven by strong software subscription sales.
