24th Oct 2024 06:59
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Thursday, recovering from a decline on Wednesday, ahead of a slew of purchasing managers' index readings.
There is a eurozone flash composite PMI at 0900 BST, before the UK reading at 0930 and the US at 1445.
"The data is likely to point to a further contraction across the eurozone economy, as well as a modest pace of expansion here in the UK. Stateside growth, though, should continue to outperform that of peers, especially in the services sector, though the more widely-watched ISM PMI gauges are not due for another couple of weeks," Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown commented.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 25.4 points higher, 0.3%, at 8,284.04 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed down 47.90 points, or 0.6%, at 8,258.64 on Wednesday.
In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.0%, the S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.6%.
In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.2% in afternoon trade, but in China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.8% lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was down 1.3%. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.1%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2926 early Thursday, down from USD1.2938 late Wednesday afternoon. The euro stood at USD1.0790, up from USD1.0780. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY152.34, fading from JPY152.83.
In New York, Tesla climbed 12% after hours. Earnings beat expectations and the firm projected a slight increase in deliveries for the current year.
In the three months to September 30, Elon Musk's electric vehicle manufacturer said GAAP net income rose 17% to USD2.17 billion from USD1.85 billion a year prior. Diluted GAAP earnings per share rose 17% to USD0.62 from USD0.53, and adjusted EPS improved 9% to USD0.72 from USD0.66.
"The fear going into results was that the huge incentives effort to push volumes into the tough EV market would materially dent margins – that doesn't look to be the case," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman commented.
Revenue increased 8% to USD25.18 billion from USD23.35 billion. GAAP gross margin improved to 19.8% from 17.9%, operating margin rose to 10.8% from 7.6%.
Gold rose to USD2,727.78 an ounce early Thursday, up from USD2,718.02 at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. Brent oil was quoted at USD75.40 a barrel, up from USD75.06.
In the local corporate calendar, trading statements are due from miner Anglo American, high street lender Barclays, Marmite owner Unilever and exchange operator and data provider London Stock Exchange Group.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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