(Correcting days to Friday and Thursday.)
(Alliance News) – Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, ahead of US personal consumption expenditures data.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 55.9 points, 0.7%, at 8,134.76 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed up 38.48 points, 0.5%, at 8,078.86 on Thursday.
Friday’s economic calendar has the monthly US PCE reading for March at 1330 BST.
US economic growth slowed in the first three months of the year, coming in weaker than expected, though inflation pressure picked up, according to numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The BEA said US gross domestic product grew 1.6% quarter-on-quarter on an annualised basis in the three months to March 31. Growth eased from a 3.4% rally in the final three months of 2023.
The latest reading fell short of FXStreet cited consensus, which had predicted a 2.5% climb.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.0%, the S&P 500 down 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2506 early Friday, higher than USD1.2490 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at USD1.0726 early Friday, higher than USD1.0713 late Thursday.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 1.1%.
The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-low interest rates unchanged Friday and stopped short of signalling another hike, pushing the yen to a fresh 34-year low against the dollar.
Officials last month announced the first increase in borrowing costs for 17 years as inflation continued to stick above their two percent target but warned they would take a steady approach to normalising monetary policy.
While widely expected, Friday’s decision had been keenly awaited to see if decision-makers would respond to a drop in the yen that has pushed it to levels not seen since 1990.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY156.15 versus JPY155.52. Early Friday, the dollar bought JPY156.18.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 1.4%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,334.01 an ounce early Friday, higher than USD2,331.32 on Thursday. Brent oil was trading at USD88.13 a barrel early Friday, higher than USD86.48 late Thursday.
Friday’s UK corporate diary has quarterly results from lender NatWest, and a trading statement from education products publisher Pearson.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
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