FTSE 100 to begin September on front foot ahead of manufacturing data

The FTSE 100 is expected to start September on the front foot after the long Bank Holiday weekend, despite the pound rising to a near one-year high.   London’s blue chip share index has been tipped to rise 29 points on Tuesday by spread-betters in the City, having ended last week at 5,963.57, down 36 points on the day. The previous day was a working one in the US and most of Europe, with most equity benchmarks losing ground.  On Wall Street, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 finishing in the red, down 0.8% and 0.2% respectively, but the Nasdaq Composite setting another record intraday high and adding 0.7% by the closing bell. Tuesday is all about manufacturing data around the world, with China setting things off on a positive note, with the Caixin survey giving a reading of 53.1, which was up from 52.6 a month earlier, above the expected 52.6 and is the fastest rate of expansion since 2011.  Equity markets in Asia mostly in the green but muted, with the Nikkei and Shanghai Composite just above flat, and the Hang Seng up 0.25%. “The sunshine cast by China's PMI data across other asset classes has also fallen on oil,” said Jeffrey Halley, market analyst at Oanda. “The apparently healthy recovery in China, and a steady improvement across the rest of the Asia-Pacific has lifted consumption hopes which have flowed into higher prices today.” The dollar continues to soften after the ‘lower for longer’ speech from US central bank chief Jerome Powell last week, Halley added. “With no sign of the US Dollar's momentum waning in the short-term, Europe should see further appreciation versus the greenback, with pro-cyclical currencies outperforming.” Around the markets Sterling was up 0.3% against the dollar at 1.3411 Gold has risen 0.9% to US$1,996.6 Oil is up, with Brent crude advancing 1.2% to US$45.80