FTSE 100 seen higher after Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ rally

The FTSE 100 is seen 0.4% higher after gaining 0.9% yesterday. It was reported that continuing jobless claims hit 17 month lows after declining by 255,000 last week. Initial claims fell by 3,000, which was a lesser decline than expected.
Chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) emerged atop the leaderboard with a 6% advance. Fashion house Burberry (LON:BRBY) added 5%, software developer Autonomy Corporation (LON:AU) and part-nationalised bank Lloyds (LON:LLOY) tacked on more than 4.5%, while copper miner Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) rose 4.5%. Peer Xstrata (LON:XTA) added 4.3%, while another miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and Scottish & Southern Energy (LON:SSE) climbed 3.7%.
Oil and gas supermajor BP (LON:BP) was again was a drag on the index, sliding 6.7%, while peer Shell (LON:RDSB) shed 1.1%. Home Retail Group (LON:HOME) was the only other FTSE 100 constituent to lose more than 1%, declining 1.1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 2.7%, the broader S&P 500 index surged 2.95% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite rose 2.8%.

Asian markets were on the rise today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 1.4%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.3%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rallied 1.7% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.6%.
Commodities
Oil prices extended yesterday’s gains.
July Brent Crude rose to US$75.25/barrel, while US light, sweet crude reached US$75.37/barrel.
Precious metals advanced. Gold improved to US$1,221/oz, while silver and platinum reached US$18.32/oz and US$1,538/oz respectively.
Base metals followed. Copper and nickel moved up to US$2.89/lb and US$8.54/lb, while zinc advanced to US$0.77/lb.
UK industrial and manufacturing production is due out today. The University of Michigan consumer confidence index will be out in the US today along with US business inventories and retail sales.

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