What you need to know before the open
European markets are expected lower this morning, as stock futures were seen falling.
Nervousness is building ahead of the European Central Bank’s anticipated measures, which’ll be revealed tomorrow.
Regulator Ofcom has announced further imposed cuts to the cost of mobile phone calls, with a new charge control that’ll see calls to different networks fall to less than half a penny per minute by April 2017.
Corporate news
Tesco has reported a 3.7 per cent fall in like-for-like sales. That’s a little less dire than expected, so analysts are predicting shares will open up this morning.
Meanwhile, Dai-ichi Life Insurance is buying the US firm Protective Life for an impressive $5.7bn.
And Africa-focused explorer Ophir Energy has announced a new gas discovery in Tanzania.
Data in focus
- 8.00am: UK April Halifax house prices
- 9.00am: EU May Markit composite PMI
- 9.30am: UK May Makit services PMI
- 10.00am: EU first quarter GDP
- 10.00am: EU April producer price index
- 1.15pm: US May ADP employment change
- 1.30pm: US April trade balance
- 2.45pm: US May Markit services PMI
- 3.00pm: US May ISM non-manufacturing PMI
- 7.00pm: US Fed's beige book