The FTSE 100 is expected to fall 22 points (0.3percent) in early trade today after easing 19 points (0.3 percent) on Friday to end the week at 5,925. Hospitality group Whitbread (LON:WTB), retailer Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) and oil and gas engineering firm Petrofac (LON:PFC) led the blue chips, advancing 2.1 percent. Temporary power provider Aggreko (LON:AGK) and outsourcer Serco Group (LON:SRP) tacked on nearly 2 percent. ITV (LON:ITV) was at the bottom of the pile with a 3 percent loss. Scottish & Southern Energy (LON:SSE) was down 2.4 percent. Insurer Prudential (LON:PRU) and clothing retailer Next (LON:NXT) shed nearly 2 percent. US stocks were in decline on last week’s final day of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slipped 100 points (0.8 percent) to 11,595, the S&P 500 index fell 11 points (0.8 percent) to 1,338 and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite shed 34.5 points (1.2 percent), falling to 2,828. Travelers Company (NYSE:TRV) was the heaviest faller among the DJIA constituents, shedding 2.4 percent. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) shed just over 2 percent. Commodities US light, sweet crude for June delivery declined to US$98.32/barrel. June Brent crude last traded at US$112.86/barrel. Precious metals fell. Gold traded at US$1,492/oz. Silver and platinum retreated to US$34.67/oz and US$1,759/oz respectively. Base metals followed. Copper and nickel dropped to US$3.98/lb and US$10.98/lb respectively. Zinc stood at US$0.97/lb. Today’s macroeconomic data will include the Empire State manufacturing survey, which will be out in the US, and EU balance of trade.

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