FTSE 100 preview: Index to start March higher despite mixed leads

The FTSE 100 looks set to kick off the new month in positive territory, despite mixed leads from the US and Asia. Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) will be in focus today with MPs criticising lender’s overdraft fees.

Index looking up

IG’s opening calls suggest that the Footsie will start trading 0.54 percent higher at 7,113 points. In the US, shares fell last night, pressured by geopolitical worries in the wake of this week’s talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un which did not yield any results. Asian shares meanwhile have been mixed this morning with investors digesting downbeat factory data out of China, as well as news that index publisher MSCI will increase the weighting of mainland shares in its global benchmarks.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell yesterday, giving up 32.47 points to end trading 0.46 percent lower at 7,074.73, as investors digested a string of blue-chip company results.

Friday’s agenda

Investors have a lot to look out for on the first day of March, starting with February’s final purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) for France, Germany and the eurozone, due out between 08:00 GMT and 09:00 GMT, followed by the UK manufacturing PMI for the same month at 09:30 GMT. The flash January consumer price index for the eurozone will be announced at 10:00 GMT. Italy’s government is due to present its budget at 10:00 GMT.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Canada’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product will be announced at 13:30 GMT, to be followed by US personal spending data for December at 13:30 GMT, and the ISM manufacturing PMI for February at 15:00 GMT.

In corporate releases, WPP (LON:WPP) and London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSE) are set to report results today. In other news, Reuters reports that lawmakers have criticised Lloyds’ move to impose more expensive and complex overdraft fees on customers only months ahead of a regulatory clampdown.