23rd Jan 2026 06:59
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly lower on Friday, ahead of the UK retail sales report and a swathe of flashing purchasing managers' index surveys.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 3.1 points at 10,146.95 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed up 11.96 points, 0.1%, at 10,150.05 on Thursday.
Sterling was at USD1.3487 on Friday morning, down from USD1.3498 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro was lower at USD1.1742 from USD1.1749. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JPY158.89 versus JPY158.27.
US, Ukrainian, and Russian officials will meet in the UAE following "useful" talks between President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow.
US negotiators, led by Witkoff, talked with the Russian leader in Moscow until the early hours of Friday. The high-stakes meeting came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a draft deal was "nearly, nearly ready" and that he and Trump had agreed on the issue of post-war security guarantees.
Russia, which occupies around 20% of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country's eastern Donbas region as part of a deal. But Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and says it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from launching a renewed assault.
Meanwhile, European Council President Antonio Costa vowed the EU "will defend itself" against "any form of coercion", after Trump withdrew his threat to hit European countries with tariffs over Greenland.
"The EU will continue to stand up for its interests and will defend itself, its member states, its citizens and its companies against any form of coercion, and it has the power and the tools to do so, and will do so if and when necessary," Costa said after EU leaders held crisis talks in Brussels.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.6%, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite 0.9% higher.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.2% higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.1% higher.
The Bank of Japan maintained its overnight call rate following the latest monetary policy meeting.
A statement showed that members of the central bank's policy board voted 8-1 to keep the interest rate at 0.75%, in line with the consensus forecast cited by FXStreet.
Takata Hajime was the single dissenting voice on the policy board, advocating a 25 basis points increase to 1.0%.
The last revision was in December when the BoJ hiked the rate to the highest level since 1995 with a 25 basis points increase to 0.75% from 0.50% previously.
Japan's consumer price inflation eased in the last month of 2025, though price growth stayed above the central bank's goal, official data showed.
According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the national consumer price index rose 2.1% year-on-year in December from 2.9% in November, still slightly higher than the Bank of Japan's 2% annual inflation target.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food prices grew 2.4% in December from 3.0% the previous month, matching the consensus forecast cited by FXStreet.
In the UK, consumer confidence improved slightly in January, supported by stronger expectations for personal finances over the next twelve months, survey results showed.
The overall score for the GfK consumer confidence index rose to minus 16 points in January from minus 17 in December, matching the consensus forecast cited by FXStreet.
Other measures showed confidence in personal finances over the next year improving to plus six points in January from plus two in December.
Expectations for the general economic situation over the next year fell to minus 31 points from minus 29 points. Furthermore, the major purchases index rose to minus 10 from minus 11.
Gold was higher at USD4,954.90 an ounce early on Friday from USD4,874.80 late Thursday.
The yellow metal hit another new record of USD4,967.37 earlier on Friday.
Brent oil was trading higher at USD64.63 a barrel from USD64.26.
Friday's global economic calendar has a raft of flash composite PMI readings, plus UK retail sales data.
Friday's UK corporate calendar has a trading statement from currency and asset manager Record.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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