Investors were looking ahead to comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney who will be questioned by the Treasury Select Committee today, with the focus on the current foreign exchange scandal surrounding the central bank.

A raft of economic data will also keep traders busy on Tuesday with UK industrial production and manufacturing output figures due out this morning, along with the NIESR’s latest estimate of UK gross domestic product.

The FTSE 100 was trading just 0.05% higher at 6,693 early on, following the 0.35% loss registered on Monday after miners fell on the back of concerns over China. The index finished at 6,689.45 yesterday, its lowest close since February 14th.

Investors were reacting yesterday to data which showed that China’s trade balance fell to a deficit of $22.98bn in February, its first trade deficit in 11 months, after exports slumped at an annual rate of 18.1%. Meanwhile, consumer price inflation slowed much more than forecast last month.

Asian markets performed fell overnight after the sell-off on Monday as the Bank of Japan refrained from increasing stimulus at its policy meeting, saying it expects a “moderate” recovery to continue.

The central bank kept its current pace of stimulus in place ahead of sales tax increase next month. It also lowered its view of exports, but lifted its view on industrial output and investment.

Miners recover, Inchcape rises

Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Fresnillo and Antofagasta headed higher early on after suffering yesterday.

However, the share price of African Barrick Gold fell sharply after parent company Barrick Gold Corporation sold 41m shares, or 10% of the issued share capital, as it continues its “ongoing portfolio optimisation strategy”.

Inchcape jumped after it delivered record annual results as the car dealership enjoyed demand for luxury vehicles. The company reported a pre-exceptional pre-tax profit of £274.6m in the year through December 2013, up 11.2% on the prior year, as sales jumped 7.7% to £6.5bn.

Retailers were mixed after data showed that like-for-like retail sales unexpectedly fell by 1% in February. Next and Sports Direct were making gains this morning, while Morrison and Kingfisher were lower.

Johnson Matthey fell after Liberum Capital downgraded the stock to ‘hold’, while Aviva was a high riser after RBC Capital Markets raised its rating to ‘sector performer’.

FTSE 100 – Risers
Aviva (AV.) 519.50p +1.96%
Next (NXT) 6,705.00p +1.67%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 822.50p +1.67%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,666.00p +1.52%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 439.10p +1.39%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,057.00p +1.34%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,452.00p +1.33%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,899.00p +1.22%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,171.50p +1.02%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 379.70p +0.98%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,146.00p -1.32%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 230.80p -1.24%
Barclays (BARC) 239.05p -1.22%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,453.00p -1.22%
Kingfisher (KGF) 399.10p -0.94%
Pearson (PSON) 1,013.00p -0.88%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,318.00p -0.83%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,544.00p -0.77%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,023.00p -0.76%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,396.00p -0.75%

Source: ShareCast