24th Oct 2025 06:57
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open steady on Friday, as investors await UK retail sales and flash PMI readings from major economies
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 6.0 points, or 0.1%, at 9,584.57 on Friday. The index of London large-caps had closed up 0.7% at 9,578.57 on Thursday.
In a sign of easing geopolitical tension, the White House confirmed that US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea next Thursday.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will hold a bilateral meeting with Xi in the morning before returning to Washington later in the day.
Before travelling to South Korea, Trump is due to visit Malaysia and Japan as part of a wider diplomatic tour of Asia. Speaking ahead of his departure, Trump said he hoped the meeting with Xi would yield a "positive outcome" for the US.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3314 early Friday, slightly lower than USD1.3323 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at USD1.1604, marginally down from USD1.1609 late Thursday, while against the yen, the dollar strengthened to JPY152.94 from JPY152.71.
Brent oil was trading at USD64.99 a barrel early Friday, down from USD65.75 late Thursday.
Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone, said the recent strong rise in oil prices had been driven by the "US announcement of sanctions on Russia's largest oil refiners, leading to worries over potential supply interruptions."
In New York on Thursday, Wall Street closed higher, buoyed by optimism over corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9%.
Intel shares surged 7.7% in after-hours trading after the chipmaker reported improved sales and stronger-than-expected third-quarter results. The Santa Clara, California-based company hailed progress in its turnaround, delivering a fourth consecutive quarter of growth with revenue, gross margin, and earnings per share above expectations.
Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said artificial intelligence was "clearly accelerating demand for new computer architectures, hardware, models and algorithms."
Intel posted a net income of USD4.27 billion for the three months to September, swinging from a USD16.99 billion loss a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share rose to USD0.90 from a loss of USD3.88.
On a non-GAAP basis, earnings per share were USD0.23, beating Visible Alpha consensus forecasts for a loss of USD0.13, and improving on last year’s USD0.46 loss.
Revenue increased 2.7% to USD13.65 billion from USD13.28 billion, ahead of the consensus of USD13.1 billion.
Meanwhile, Trump announced that the US is immediately ending all trade talks with Canada, accusing Ottawa of "egregious behaviour" over an advertising campaign that he said misquoted former president Ronald Reagan.
"Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
In Asia on Friday, markets were mixed. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 1.3%, the Shanghai Composite in China gained 0.5%, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney, however, closed down 0.2%.
Data released overnight showed Japan’s consumer price inflation accelerated in September. The consumer prices index rose 2.9% year-on-year, up from 2.7% in August. Excluding volatile fresh food prices, the rate also climbed to 2.9% from 2.7%.
Meanwhile, Japan's private sector growth slowed in October, according to flash PMI data from S&P Global. The composite output index fell to 50.9 in October from 51.3 in September, the weakest reading since May. The flash services PMI dropped to 52.4 from 53.3, while the flash manufacturing PMI remained in contraction, easing to 48.3 from 48.5.
Gold was quoted at USD4,109.30 an ounce early Friday, down from USD4,146.49 late Thursday.
In Friday's corporate calendar, NatWest Group releases third-quarter results, while Record and Taylor Maritime issue trading statements.
In the economic calendar, UK retail sales are released at 0700 BST, followed by a series of flash composite PMI readings for the UK, France, Germany, the eurozone and the US. Whether the US releases its consumer price index remains uncertain amid the ongoing US government shutdown.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
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