4th Oct 2024 07:09
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly lower on Friday, ahead of a crowded economic reading docket, while tensions remain high in the Middle East.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 2.3 points, less than 0.1%, at 8,280.22. The index of London large-caps closed down 8.34 points, 0.1%, at 8,282.52 on Thursday.
Brent oil was trading at USD77.38 a barrel, higher than USD74.05 late Thursday.
"Short crude, for now, still feels like something of a 'widowmaker' trade, given how fluid the situation in the Middle East remains; with the weekend on the horizon, I can’t imagine many wanting to run bearish oil exposures while markets are closed," Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown commented.
As for the US, he said: "Once again, incoming data points to the US economy maintaining solid momentum, not only making the [Federal Reserve's 50 basis point] September cut all the more mind-boggling, but also reinforcing my base case of a 25bp per meeting cadence of easing from here onwards, until rates return to neutral. Of course, a soft jobs report today would see all that having to be thrown out the window!"
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3140 early Friday, higher than USD1.3110 at the London equities close on Thursday.
The euro traded at USD1.1034 early Friday, higher than USD1.1013 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY146.08, lower versus JPY146.72.
The yen regained strength against the dollar, having declined after Japan's new prime minister said late Wednesday that he did not think the environment was right for further interest rate hikes.
More recently, in his first policy speech on Friday, Shigeru Ishiba announced plans to hike the average national minimum wage to JPY1,500 per hour, up nearly 43% from the current JPY1,050, within this decade.
Gold was quoted at USD2,666.97 an ounce early Friday, higher than USD2,651.03 at the London equities close on Thursday.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, the S&P 500 down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down marginally.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was marginally higher. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.7%. Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for National Day celebrations.
In Friday's corporate calendar, JD Wetherspoon releases full-year results.
In the economic calendar on Friday, several countries including the UK release construction PMI readings. The US nonfarm payrolls print is due at 1330 BST.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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