The UK market is marginally higher on Monday after comments made by China's Premier Wen Jiabao over the weekend evoked global reaction. Carmakers were apprehensive on China growth fears. The major Asian markets ended mostly higher as investors averred that Jiabao's remarks might be followed by stimulus measures.
Jiabao warned that the country's economic recovery is yet to gain momentum and the economic strains may continue for some more time, the official Xinhua news agency reported Sunday. Economic recovery is not yet stable and economic hardships may continue for a period of time, he said during an inspection tour in southwest Sichuan province over the weekend.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is falling 0.26 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is gaining 0.06 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is currently advancing 0.04 percent.
Smiths Group announced the disposal of its minority stake in Cross Match Technologies Inc. for up to $77 million. The stock is up around 2 percent.
G4S is declining 9 percent after the security firm regretted its inability to deliver the promised security staff for the London Olympics. The company would record up to 50 million pounds charge in the current year, related to this contract.
Software firm Sage Group said its trading performance since April 1 remains broadly in-line with its expectations, despite a "toughening" economic environment. The firm remains cautious on the outlook for Europe. The stock is losing over 3 percent.
Rio Tinto and Anglo American are falling over 1 percent in response to growth fears in China.
Barclays is losing 2.9 percent amid more scrutiny into the Libor manipulation scandal.
National Grid is declining 2.3 percent. Noting that Ofgem has published high level details of its initial proposals, the firm said there are several vital areas where Ofgem's proposals differ substantially from National Grid's comprehensive business plan submissions for transmission and gas distribution.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is up 0.02 percent and Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.20 percent. The French CAC 40 is falling 0.11 percent.
In economic news, inflation in Eurozone was 2.4 percent in June, unchanged from the previous month, the latest report from Eurostat showed. The figure matched the preliminary estimate.
Meanwhile, Eurozone's trade surplus rose more than expected by economists in May. The trade balance was in a surplus of 6.9 billion euros in May, higher than 3.7 billion euros in April. Economists expected the surplus to rise to 4 billion euros.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets ended mostly higher. Australia's All Ordinaries gained 0.60 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.15 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the uptrend and retreated 1.7 percent after Jiabao's comments.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages saw continued strength going into the close, ending the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow jumped 1.6 percent, the Nasdaq surged up 1.5 percent and the S&P 500 soared 1.7 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is falling $0.33 to $86.77 per barrel and August gold is losing $7.3 to $1584.7 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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