World stock markets traded in a narrow range Wednesday as investors looked for renewed direction, while the British pound continued to founder following unimpressive industrial output figures. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 1.23 point to 5,601.07 while Germany's DAX rose 8.72 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,894.61. The CAC-40 in France was 5.78 points, or 0.2 percent, higher at 3,915.79. Wall Street was also expected to open largely flat – Dow futures were down 2 points at 10,562 while the broader Standard and amp; Poor's 500 futures fell 0.7 point to 1,139.80. The news earlier that Chinese exports soared nearly 46 percent in February from a year earlier did little to prompt any sustained buying in the Asian session. Though they stoked hopes that global demand was recovering, the figures reinforced fears that the Chinese monetary authorities may raise interest rates or reserve requirements for banks. Shanghai's main stock market actually ended 0.7 percent lower at 3,048.93. Most interest Wednesday centered on Britain after Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed that the annual budget statement will be on March 24, meaning that it's even more likely that the British general election will be on May 6 – election campaigns usually last a month or so in Britain. “How having a budget that close to an election at a time when there is no room for fiscal largesse can be good for the Labour's chances of winning the election escapes me,” said Kit Juckes, chief economist at ECU Group. “At least the timetable is getting clearer, however, and the massive cloud of uncertainty over the U.K. will lift before too long,” he added. The pound traded 0.8 percent lower at $1.4875, following the news that the recovery in Britain's industrial sector ground to a halt in January – official figures showed that industrial production fell by 0.4 percent during the month, with manufacturing output down by an even greater 0.9 percent. Though the industrial sector only accounts for around 18 percent of the British economy, the figures reinforced fears that the British economy may contract again in the first quarter of the year following grim trade data on Tuesday. The pound has been undermined in recent weeks by growing concerns about the upcoming general election following the closing of the gap between the opposition Conservative Party and the governing Labour Party in a raft of opinion polls. Investors are worried that an unclear election outcome where no one party gets an overall majority may stymie attempts to get borrowing down. On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings said Britain's triple A rating was merited but it did warn that more needs to be done by the next government to get a handle on Britain's budget deficit, which is poised to be around 12 percent of the country's gross domestic product this year – not far off from Greece's levels. The euro was 0.1 percent lower at $1.3585 while the dollar rose 0.5 percent to 90.36 yen. Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average shed 3.73 points to 10,563.92, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended flat at 21,208.29. Elsewhere, South Korea's benchmark rose 0.1 percent and Australia's market was almost unchanged. Oil prices fell slightly, with benchmark crude for April delivery down 16 cents at $81.33 a barrel. The contract lost 38 cents overnight.
