12th Sep 2025 06:55
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, ahead of a UK gross domestic product reading and inflation data from Germany and other eurozone constituents.
The UK data is released at 0700 BST. Also on the docket, there is final consumer price index data from Germany, France and Spain on Friday morning, ahead of eurozone reading on Wednesday.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 26.8 points higher, 0.3%, at 9,324.38 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed 72.19 points, 0.8% at on 9,297.58 on Thursday. It has risen 1.0% this week.
In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average powered 1.3% higher, the S&P 500 added 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%.
In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 hit another all-time and was 1.0% higher in late trade. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.3% while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong surged 1.5%. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.7% higher.
Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented: "In just one sentence: yesterday's fresh data from the US gave the green light for next week's Federal Reserve (Fed) cut. It's not that the inflation data matters much at this stage – all attention is shifting toward the weakening US jobs market – but yesterday's CPI figures, broadly in line with expectations, combined with a jump in initial jobless claims, gave full justification to those calling for a Fed cut next week. Two more cuts are already fully priced in before year-end. That's the good news."
Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the US annual consumer price index accelerated to 2.9% in August from 2.7% in July, as anticipated by the FXStreet-cited consensus. The monthly inflation rate sped up to 0.4% in August from 0.2% in July, higher than the consensus of an increase to 0.3% in August.
The core annual inflation rate remained unchanged at 3.1% in August, as expected. The monthly core inflation rate was unchanged at 0.3%, also as anticipated.
Separately, the US Department of Labor reported that the latest number of new unemployment insurance claims was 263,000 in the week to September 6, an increase of 27,000 from 236,000 a week prior, the latter of which was revised down from 237,000.
The most recent figures are the highest since October 2021.
The pound faded to USD1.3558 early Friday from USD1.3578 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday.
According to FXStreet cited consensus, numbers on Friday are expected to show that the UK economy tread water in July, after registering a 0.4% advance in June from May.
The euro was lower at USD1.1732 on Friday morning from USD1.1743 at the time of the closing bell in Europe on Thursday. Versus, the yen, the buck rose to JPY147.38 from JPY147.06.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.03%, stretching from 4.02%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was unmoved at 4.67%.
A barrel of Brent declined to USD65.89 on Friday morning, from USD66.42 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. Gold rose to USD3,654.11 an ounce from USD3,636.97.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.