Friday 11 April 2014 2:49 am

What you need to know before the open

European markets are set to open lower today, following the retreat of the Nasdaq yesterday, as Wall Street's tech sell-off returned.

Despite more investor confidence mid-week, worries of over-priced stock have returned again, and Asia’s tech sector suffered in Friday trading.

Inflation numbers from Germany have come in at one per cent for March year-on-year – in line with expectations, and from 1.2 per cent in April. Month-on-month, the consumer price index was at 0.3 per cent last month.

And Greece’s sale of five year bonds yesterday has been hailed by some as a sign that confidence is ebbing back in the Eurozone periphery.

Corporate news

Co-op Bank has confirmed it made a loss of £1.3bn last year. It’s also disclosed that it won’t made a profit this year or next, is paying its chief executive £2.9m and is cutting payouts to executives who left following its collapse by £5m.

Polypipe, which makes plastic piping, says it’s to be the latest UK company to float. It’s prices its offer at 245p per share.

And fund manager Jupiter has reported results, with assets under management rising to £32.2bn, slightly beating analysts’ estimates.

Data in focus