Thursday 10 April 2014 2:49 am

What you need to know before the open

Not much in the way of surprises from last night’s Fed meeting minutes.

It seems officials are not in any hurry to raise rates, and markets rebounded on the news.

The sell-off seen earlier in the week, though, seems to have been because of worries over pricey valuations, rather than rates concerns.

According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the surge in house prices is happening across the UK, no longer limited to London. Property sales in the first three months of this year hit a six-year high.

Overnight, trade numbers from China showed some improvement in March from the dire results in February.

New French prime minister Manuel Valls has spoken this week about how he’s going to cut taxes on jobs and companies. Many believe he needs to act quickly, after manufacturing and industrial production numbers show the euro area country continues to struggle.

Inflation figures out this morning for France show the consumer price index increased 0.6 per cent in March year-on-year, following expectations of a 0.8 per cent rise.

Corporate news

Marks & Spencer has reported that clothing sales rose 1.3 per cent in the first part of 2014, up 0.6 per cent like-for-like. Those in general merchandise continue to fall, however,

WH Smith saw profits before tax rise three per cent to £67m in the six months to the end of February, despite a four per cent fall in sales to £638m.

Mothercare has said its UK sales fell 0.3 per cent in the first part of 2014 from a year earlier. It’s called the results an improvement, though, and expects full year profits to be in line with expectations.

And Vodafone India’s largest minority investor, Piramal Enterprises, has said it’s divesting its 11 per cent stake for a total of 89bn Indian rupees (£880m).

Data in focus