31st Oct 2025 06:58
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Friday, after another record close for the FTSE 100, as investors continue to digest a "hawkish" cut by the Federal Reserve.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 31.2 points, 0.3%, at 9,728.86 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed up just 3.92 points at 9,760.06, a record close.
Sterling was at USD1.3148 on Friday morning, down marginally from USD1.3149 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro was higher at USD1.1568 from USD1.1565. Against the yen, the dollar was slightly higher at JPY154.12 versus JPY154.11.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday lowered expectations for a further rate reduction in December, stating it was far from a foregone conclusion.
President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the "Nuclear Option" of scrapping the key 60-vote threshold required for the Senate to advance legislation, as Republicans face mounting pressure to end the US federal shutdown.
The move would get rid of a longstanding rule that enables 41 of the 100 senators to block any bill from debate or vote – a longstanding procedural check on power, relied on by both parties in the past.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened slightly to 4.10% on Friday morning from 4.09% on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.66%, widened from 4.64%.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2%, the S&P 500 lost 1.0% and the Nasdaq Composite retreated 1.6%.
Overnight, third quarter earnings season was in focus.
Apple shares climbed higher as fourth quarter sales and earnings per share beat analyst expectations.
In its fourth quarter ended September 30, net income was USD27.47 billion, up 86% from USD14.74 billion a year ago.
Diluted earnings per share were USD1.85 compared to USD0.97, ahead of the USD1.77 estimated by LSEG.
Fourth quarter sales hit USD102.47 billion, up 7.9% from USD94.93 billion a year ago, and beating LSEG estimates of USD102.24 billion.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook commented: "Today, Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record of USD102.5 billion, including a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record for Services."
Amazon reported better-than-expected third quarter sales lifted by a strong performance in its cloud business, Amazon Web Services.
Chief Executive Andy Jassy said: "AWS is growing at a pace we haven't seen since 2022."
The Seattle, Washington-based technology company said net income rose to USD21.19 billion in the three months to September from USD15.33 billion the year prior, or to USD1.95 per diluted share from USD1.43.
Revenue increased to USD180.17 billion from USD158.88 billion a year ago, with Amazon Web Services climbing 20% to USD33.00 billion from USD27.45 billion, ahead of FactSet consensus of USD177.75 and USD32.41 billion respectively.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 2.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.8%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 1.1% lower. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was flat.
Gold was higher at USD4,006.80 an ounce early on Friday from USD3,998.00 late Thursday. Brent oil was trading lower at USD63.90 a barrel from USD64.92.
Friday's global economic calendar has Canada GDP data, eurozone inflation figures and the Chicago PMI in the US.
There are no significant events scheduled on Friday's UK corporate calendar.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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