FTSE Opening

[Davros]

Hi,

I often hear on the radio and in the news (ft.com) that the FTSE is going to open "x" points lower/higher or unchanged. How do these people know, they seem to be right most of the time. What are they looking at?

D.

 

[maxpain]

Guess Cantor Index has something to do with it. Don´t know if it´s an underlying FTSE-future traded after the ordinary trading session is closed. German DAX future is traded until 2pm eastern time. DAX also has an AH trading lasting until 4pm (e.t). Guess there is something similar for the FTSE.

 

[peterpr]

Hi,

I often hear on the radio and in the news (ft.com) that the FTSE is going to open "x" points lower/higher or unchanged. How do these people know, they seem to be right most of the time. What are they looking at?

D.

Biggest influence is usually the ftse futures close the previous trading day - ie 1 hour after the main market close. After that, how the US markets close; after that what the Asian markets are doing prior to the UK open - All of these + a few other factors affect the quotes of the major spread-bet providers who allow dealing well out of UK hours which is what the news is usually based on. You will often see one of the SB providers quoted in reports of the prospective market opening.

 

[weyhey]

I calculate it by getting the price of the S&P500 futures when the FTSE closed and seeing where the S&P500 futures are 5 minutes before the FTSE opens and calculate the percentage move up or down on the S&P and adding/subtracting that percentage from the last FTSE close.

This is the most accurate way.
The actuall open thogh can be different because the FTSE is opened by volume at price unlike DAX which has some sort of leveling and matching system and the open can be delayed by a few minutes whilst it levels.