11th Feb 2021 07:00
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen marginally higher on Thursday, despite a mixed close in New York following weak US inflation data.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 8.2 points higher at 6,532.56. London's blue-chip index lost 7.20 points, or 0.1%, to close at 6,524.36 on Wednesday.
Financial markets in Tokyo are closed for National Foundation Day on Thursday. They were closed as well in Shanghai for Lunar New Year's Eve.
Hong Kong was open on Thursday for the morning session only. The Hang Seng index closed up 0.5%. Sydney's ASX 200 index lost 1.0%.
New York ended mixed on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.2%, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index lost 0.3% and the S&P 500 ended marginally lower.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US consumer prices rose 1.4% annually in January, though a 1.5% climb in prices was forecast, according to consensus cited by FXStreet. In December, consumer prices also had risen 1.4% yearly.
Excluding food and energy, core consumer prices were up 1.4% annually in January, easing from December's 1.6% rise. For January, a 1.5% core price rise was expected by the market.
"US inflation data surprised markets overnight (including the author), by printing lower than expected. That took the wind out of the sails of the buy-everything trade, leading to another day of consolidation across asset classes. In the bigger picture, that is no bad thing, given the strength of the one-way price action seen over the past week in various corners of the markets," OANDA Asia Pacific Senior Market Analyst Jeffrey Halley commented.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3847, largely flat from USD1.3845 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
The euro stood at USD1.2128, marginally down from USD1.2135 at the European equities close. Against the yen, the dollar fetched JPY104.58, down from JPY104.66.
The US economy is a long way from a strong job market and the experience of past recessions shows it could take years to recover, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.
In addition to mass vaccinations to halt the Covid-19 health crisis, it will take a full suite of government policies to repair the damage done by the pandemic to the US labour market, he said in a speech.
"Despite the surprising speed of recovery early on, we are still very far from a strong labour market whose benefits are broadly shared," Powell told the Economic Club of New York.
CMC Markets UK Market Analyst David Madden commented: "The Fed won't even consider removing stimulus until the country is really through the pandemic. Lately there have been growing concerns that higher inflation is in the pipeline but Mr Powell said that an increase in inflation readings in the months ahead won't mean much in terms of influencing policy."
The economic events calendar on Thursday has US jobless claims at 1330 GMT. New claims are expected to be 757,000, a fall from 779,000 last week.
AstraZeneca closed down 0.9% on Wednesday in London, even as the World Health Organization backed its Covid-19 vaccine.
The WHO said Wednesday that AstraZeneca's jabs could be used on people aged over 65 and also in places where new variants of the virus are circulating, following recent questions over the efficacy of the firm's jab.
"The UN body also commented on a recent study showing the vaccine provided minimal protection against the South African variant and said the evidence was "inconclusive" and it was "plausible" the vaccine might still be efficient against severe cases," analysts at Danske Bank added.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker reports annual results on Thursday. The UK corporate calendar also has full-year results from soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola HBC and peer Coca-Cola European Partners and from information and data analytics provider RELX.
Brent oil was quoted at USD61.06 a barrel early on Thursday, down from USD61.40 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,837.87 an ounce, largely flat from USD1,837.45.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected];
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