The FTSE has been trading in a tight range giving current volatility, trading between 4090 and 4120.

Shell have announced profit decline of 58%, perhaps not particularly surprising given the oil price and announcements from BP earlier this week.

Otherwise, swine flu is still at the forefront of news, with occurrences of the disease spreading further afield to countries such as Germany. Cases have now been identified in the UK, USA, Canada and as far afield as New Zealand.

This really could put a dampener on global trade which would put downward pressure on the oil price: this poses the question whether the likes of BP and Shell have further to fall.

Eyes to the US open, we are calling the Dow up 70 points from yesterday’s close.

Traders are anticipating whether there will be any improvements in US Q1 figures: any indication that the world’s engine of growth has started to turn a corner will be received with great cheer, but with the swine flu progressing, this could prove short lived.

By Philip Gillett, Sales Trader, IG Index.

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