Wednesday 23 April 2014 2:53 am

What you need to know before the open

US markets saw another positive finish yesterday, with European counterparts expected higher today, looking to French and German manufacturing data.

Economists will be looking to see if the turnaround seen in France in March continued, and Germany’s expected to see a slight improvement, too.

China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index improved to 48.3 – encouraging, but still showing contraction.

We’ve got Bank of England minutes out as well, but no great revelations are expected from those.

Corporate data

Primark’s boosted results for owner AB Foods, which saw profit before tax increase six per cent to £434m in the six months to March.

It’s also announced that it’ll be opening its first Primark store in the US next year, in Boston, which’ll be followed by more.

Meanwhile, Sports Direct has reported a 10.3 per cent jump in first quarter sales to £360m, with gross profit up 11.5 per vent to £147m.

UK chip maker Arm Holdings saw revenues rise 10 per cent to £186.7m. Licensing of its technology in the US in the first quarter rose 38 per cent as it worked to widen ranges.

Swedish phone company Ericsson has reported a seven per cent drop in quarterly sales but a higher than expected gross margin. The fall’s because of weak trading in the US and Japan, it said.

And Patisserie Holdings, which owns brand Patisserie Valerie, has announced its intention to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market. It plans to raise £33m.

Data in focus