14th Aug 2025 06:50
(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 is expected to edge higher after the closing bell on Thursday, with gross domestic product readings from the UK and eurozone in focus, while stocks in Asia struggled after a solid start to the week.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 8.5 points higher, 0.1%, at 9,173.73 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed up 17.42 points, 0.2%, at 9,165.23 on Wednesday.
In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.4%, easing from Wednesday's record high. Over in China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.4% lower. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.5% higher in late trade.
The pound edged up to USD1.3569 on Thursday morning, from USD1.3566 at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro slipped to USD1.1698 from USD1.1713. Against the yen, the dollar faded to JPY146.56 from JPY147.24.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened slightly to 4.24% from 4.23%. The 30-year yield was unchanged at 4.83%.
In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 1.0%, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.1%.
"In short, the dovish repricing of Fed policy expectations continued," Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown commented. "I think we best get used to that narrative, and to the market moves in question, given that the docket is now rather empty until Chair Powell speaks at Jackson Hole next week, leaving the 'path of least resistance' for markets pretty well-embedded for the time being."
The US data calendar has a producer price index reading, as well as the latest jobless claims data, at 1330 BST.
In Europe, eyes will be on gross domestic product data from the UK at 0700 and the eurozone at 1000.
The UK economy is expected to have grown 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the three months ended June, according to consensus cited by FXStreet, the pace of expansion easing from 0.7% in the first stretch of the year.
The euro area economy is expected to have risen at 0.1% also quarter-on-quarter, matching the pace of expansion seen in the first quarter.
A barrel of Brent rose to USD65.79 early Thursday, from USD65.51 at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. Gold traded at USD3,358.01 an ounce, up from USD3,356.28.
Thursday's local corporate calendar has half-year results from insurance firms Admiral and Aviva, plus mining company Antofagasta.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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