(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)London's FTSE 100 is expected to ease at the start of Thursday's trading despite last night's strong finish on Wall Street. US blue chips marked a third day's rally with the Dow Jones closing 83 points or 0.47% higher at 17716 while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both ended up nearly 0.5%. European equities however have eyes on Asia as well as upcoming economic releases. 'European stock markets are expected to open a little lower following a relatively mixed session in Asia overnight as investors await a raft of data from Europe and the US throughout the day while still having one eye on tomorrow's U.S. jobs report' said Craig Erlam analyst at Oanda. 'It will be very interesting to see how investors respond to the economic data in the coming days as many of the central banks that have previously been very active have given the impression that the coming months will be quite the opposite.' In Asia Japan's Nikkei was up just 0.2% at 16913 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.34% to 20732. The Shanghai Composite was practically flat at 3003. Australia's ASX 200 was a notable riser gaining 1.45% to 5082. Crude oil prices remained below US$40 with Brent crude priced at US$38.94 this morning while US crude futures were at US$37.90. In London the FTSE 100 was predicted about 20 points lower an hour before the open with IG Markets calling the blue chip benchmark at 6184 to 6189.
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