FTSE 100 seen higher ahead of budget, Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ rally

The FTSE 100 is seen 0.3% higher ahead of today’s budget statement by Chancellor Alistair Darling. The UK’s blue chip index tacked on 0.5% yesterday after nearly reaching 5,700 during the day. US stocks rallied after a housing update showed a 0.6% decline in existing home sales, which was a lesser decrease than expected. Yesterday’s UK inflation update revealed a drop from 3.5% to 3%.
US stocks rallied on the news with the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing 0.95%, while the broader S&P 500 index added 0.7% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite rose 0.8%.
Asian shares climbed today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tacked on 0.2%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index was up added 0.1%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed o.4% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.35%. South Korea’s KOSPI was flat.
In the UK, oil and gas producer Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) rallied 8% to take the lead among the blue chips. Insurer Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) followed with a gain of nearly 5%, while miner ENRC (LSE: ENRC) and oil and gas engineering firm Petrofac (LSE: PFC) moved up 3.8% and 3.5% respectively. Car insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM), tour company TUI Travel (LSE: TT) and part-nationalised bank Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) all added more than 3%.
Retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KGF) was at the bottom of the index with a 2.6% loss. Home Retail Group (LSE: HOME) and defence and aerospace systems manufacturer BAE Systems (LSE: BA) slid 2.4% and 2.2% respectively. food manufacturer Unilever (LSE: ULVR) and United Utilities (LSE: UU) were the only other FTSE 100 constituent to shed more than 1%, declining 1.6% and 1.4% respectively.
Commodities
Oil prices declined. May Brent Crude slipped below US$80/barrel, while US light, sweet crude dropped to US$81.13/barrel.
Precious metals followed with gold sliding to US$1,098/oz, while silver and platinum dropped to US$16.83/oz and US$1,599/oz respectively.
Base metals also were lower. Copper and nickel retreated to US$3.34/lb and US$10.07/lb. Zinc held steady at US$1.00/lb.
Insurer Aviva (LSE: AV), broadcaster BSkyB (LSE: BSY) and Intercontinental Hotels (LSE: IHG) will be trading ex-dividend today.

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