21st Aug 2025 06:59
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly higher on Thursday, ahead of the UK's public sector net borrowing data.
Meanwhile, as Pepperstone's Michael Brown put it: "It's 'flash' PMI day today, though the surveys seem unlikely to tell us much by way of fresh information.
"On the whole, the figures should show the global manufacturing sector continuing to contract, services continuing to underpin the expansion, and price pressures remaining relatively intense."
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 4.6 points higher, 0.1%, on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed 1.1% higher at 9,288.14 on Wednesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3451 early Thursday, lower than USD1.3468 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
The euro traded at USD1.1648 early Thursday, lower than USD1.1661 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY147.45 versus JPY147.15.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mostly lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 16.04 points, the S&P 500 down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.7%.
Brown noted that "a busy US docket lies ahead, with the weekly jobless stats highlighting things, where the initial claims print coincides with the survey week for the August jobs report. Also due today are the latest existing home sales stats, plus August's manufacturing survey from the Philly Fed.
"On the policy front, we're due to hear from the Fed's Bostic, and SNB's Martin, through the day, while the agenda for the Jackson Hole Symposium is also set to be released at some point tonight. We already know, of course, that [Federal Reserve] Chair [Jerome] Powell will be speaking at 3pm London/10am NY on Friday."
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said the impact of tariffs remains uncertain as they weigh upside risks to inflation against a slowing jobs market, minutes showed.
Minutes from its July meeting showed the majority of the FOMC agreed that, with the labour market "still solid" and current monetary policy "moderately or modestly restrictive", the Committee was "well positioned" to respond in a timely way to potential economic developments.
Still, officials assessed that the overall effects of higher tariffs on economic activity and inflation "remained to be seen", noting that it would take time to have more clarity on the "magnitude and persistence" of tariffs on inflation.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.9%.
Gold was quoted at USD3,339.46 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD3,341.46 on Wednesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD67.14 a barrel early Thursday, higher than USD66.70 late Wednesday.
In Thursday's corporate calendar, Hays is expected to release a trading statement.
In the economic calendar on Thursday, there are flash PMI releases from several regions including the UK, the eurozone, Germany and the US.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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