FTSE 100 seen lower as Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ trim gains, commodities rise

The FTSE 100 is seen lower in early trade today after a flat finish on Wall Street, where the main indices gave back early gains late in the session. The UK’s blue chip index is projected to shed 10 points, or nearly 0.2% following two days of good gains as the markets were recovering from last week’s declines.
The Footsie tacked on 1.45% on Tuesday after adding almost 1% the day before. Airline British Airways (LSE: BAY) was in the lead with a 6% advance, followed by interdealer broker ICAP (LSE: IAP) and silver and gold miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES), which both added 4.5%. Chipmaker ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM), bank Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) and hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG) added slightly more than 4%, while gold producer Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) and commercial property company Segro (LSE: SGRO) added more than 3.5%.
Insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU) was at the bottom of the pile with an 8% fall after its purchase of AIG’s (NYSE: AIG) Asian assets was reported on the weekend. Car insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) and miner Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) were down 3.3%. Turbine manufacturer Rolls Royce (LSE: RR) and Associated British Foods (LSE: ABF) were the only other blue chips to shed more than 1%, declining 1.4% and 1.3% respectively.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat after making strong gains in the morning, while the broader S&P 500 index trimmed gains to just 0.2%. The technology heavy NASDAQ composite added 0.3%.
Asian markets edged higher today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.2%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.6%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.3%, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.45% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7%.
Commodities
Oil prices improved as US light, sweet crude moved closer to US$80/barrel, settling at US$79.70/barrel, while April Brent Crude eclipsed US$78/barrel.
Precious metals did well. Gold improved to US$1,134/oz, while silver and platinum advanced to US$16.96/oz and US$1,567/oz.
Base metals retreated after making gains yesterday. Copper and nickel pulled back to US$3.34/lb and US$9.96/lb, while zinc held steady at US$0.99/lb.
Restaurant Group (LSE: RTN), public transport operator Arriva (LSE: ARI), house builder Taylor Whimpey (LSE: TW) and home credit company International Personal Finance (LSE: IPF) will release their final reports on Wednesday.
Today's eocnomic data will include ISM's (Institute of Supply Management) non-manufacturing update and US employment data for February.

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