24th Apr 2026 06:49
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Friday, after US President Donald Trump threatened a "big tariff" on the UK over a tax on US tech firms, while the price of oil continued to climb.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 76.6 points, 0.7%, at 10,380.41 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed down 19.45 points, 0.2%, at 10,457.01 on Thursday.
Sterling was at USD1.3465 on Friday morning, down from USD1.3500 at the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling was lower at EUR1.1527 from EUR1.1551.
The euro was a little lower at USD1.1682 from USD1.1708. Against the yen, the dollar was slightly higher at JPY159.76 versus JPY159.50.
Israel and Lebanon extended a ceasefire by three weeks, Trump announced, as he voiced hope for a historic three-way meeting soon and a potential peace deal.
He said that he expected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to meet jointly with him at the White House during the ceasefire.
"I think there's a very good chance of having peace. I think it should be an easy one," Trump told reporters as he met in the White House with ambassadors of the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations.
Brent oil was trading higher at USD105.11 a barrel on Friday morning from USD103.25 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on American social media firms.
The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies.
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office, Trump said: "We've been looking at it and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful."
The tax targets companies whose worldwide revenues from digital activities exceed GBP500 million, with more than GBP25 million of the revenues from UK users.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, the S&P 500 0.4% lower and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.9%.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 0.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.5% lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was slightly lower. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.1% lower.
Microsoft is looking to trim its ranks with voluntary buyouts of some US employees in an unprecedented move by the tech stalwart founded in 1975, reports indicated.
About seven percent of US employees at Microsoft were reported to be eligible for an offer aimed at workers who are senior director level or lower, whose years of employment and age add up to 70 or more, according to a CNBC report.
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms told employees in an internal email that the major round of redundancies is to be made on May 20.
The reason given for the redundancies was a desire to make the company more efficient and balance expenditure. It was previously reported that Meta is set to cut 10% of its workforce, around 8,000 people, next month as it invests heavily in AI.
Gold was lower at USD4,681.75 an ounce early on Friday from USD4,731.39 late Thursday.
Friday's global economic calendar has UK retail sales figures at 0700 BST, followed by the Michigan consumer sentiment index and Canadian retail sales data.
Friday's local corporate calendar has a trading statement from packaging firm Mondi.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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