Nintendo's next mobile game was a highlight in Asia, but in Europe investors await Mario Draghi's guidance on monetary policy.
Opening snapshot at 8.15am
The FTSE 100 opened 15 points to the good this morning at 6,862.
The top winner was Dixons Carphone (LON:DC) up 2.5% to 384p after it reported better than expected sales with no 'detectable' impact from Brexit.
The biggest loser was Admiral Group (LON:ADM) down almost 3% to 2,000p.
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Preview at 7.00am
Nintendo’s iconic plumber provided a catalyst for traders in Japan, but here in Europe markets await direction from another Italian named Mario.
In Japan Nintendo shares picked up around 12% on Thursday after the rejuvenated video games group unveiled plans for Mario Run, a smartphone game that it hopes can follow up the unprecedented breakout success of Pokemon GO.
Unlike Pokemon GO, which was developed by Google spin-off Niantic, the new Mario game will be very much a Nintendo game and as such success will equate to much more substantial revenues.
Closer to home, meanwhile, investors wait for European Central Bank president Mario Draghi who will later today update on the Eurozone’s monetary policy.
Not much is anticipated in terms of new initiatives, but, with macroeconomics, stimulus and interest rates all pulling markets in recent months it is little surprise that investors are sitting on their hands ahead of the announcement.
“European equity markets are expected to open relatively flat ahead of the ECB monetary policy announcement on Thursday, with investors appearing to opt for caution despite no new action being anticipated,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at OANDA.
“The ECB finds itself between a rock and a hard place at the moment.
“Growth and inflation continues to elude the euro area and we’re likely to find out today, when the central bank releases its latest economic projections, that Brexit has only made that situation more dire, albeit potentially less so at this stage than many would have thought a couple of months ago.”
Wall Street marked an uneventful close on Thursday, although many attentions were fixed onApple as it launched its latest iPhone iteration – SPOILER ALERT: the new model comes without a headphone jack.
The Dow Jones ended Wednesday just 11 points, 0.06%, lower at 18,526 while the S&P 500 moved even less from its starting point finishing the session t 2,186. The Nasdaq meanwhile edged slightly higher, adding 0.15% to 5,283.
Nintendo was the feature in Japan, rising 12%, whereas the Nikkei index was about 0.4% lower at 16,948.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 142 points, 0.6%, to 23,886 while the Shanghai Composite was more or less static at 3,092.
Australia’s ASX 200 was in negative territory, losing 47 point or 0.68%, to 5,387.
In London, CFD and spreadbetting group IG Markets sees only a couple of points movement from the blue chip shares. About an hour before the open it is calling the FTSE 100 4 points higher at 6,841 to 6,845.
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