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LONDON MARKET EARLY CALL: Stocks called lower ahead of OPEC+ meeting

5th Oct 2022 06:49

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Wednesday, with UK Prime Minister Liz Truss set to deliver her keynote conference speech, and oil-producing nations meet to discuss their production strategy,

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps will open down 22.5 points, 0.3%, at 7,063.96 on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 177.70 points, or 2.6% at 7,086.46 on Tuesday.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.1443 early Wednesday, higher than USD1.1438 at the London equities close on Tuesday.

Truss will say the "disruption" from her plans to revive the country's economy will be worth it as she battles to save her premiership after just a month in the job.

The prime minister will insist there can be no more "drift and delay" in the effort to boost economic growth in her first Tory conference speech as leader.

She will defend her "new approach" which will "unleash the full potential of our great country".

The euro traded at USD0.9974 early Wednesday, higher than USD0.9970 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY144.09, lower versus JPY144.40.

In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street rallied. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 825.43 points, or 2.8%, at 30,316.32. The S&P 500 closed up 112.50 points, or 3.1%, at 3,790.93. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 360.97 points, or 3.3%, at 11,176.40.

In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index was up 0.5%.

Japan's private sector returned to growth in September, figures confirmed, as stronger service sector growth offset a slowdown in manufacturing.

The S&P Global au Jibun Bank composite purchasing managers' index rose to 51.0 points in September from 49.4 in August, back above the 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction.

This was slightly above the previous flash estimate of 50.9 in September.

"The increase in business activity was driven by the service sector as goods production declined for a third straight month. Overall, the pace of growth was modest despite being the quickest in three months," S&P Global said.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 1.7%. In China, equities resumed trading after a break for National Golden Week. The Shanghai Composite was down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong surged 6.0%.

Gold was quoted at USD1,720.20 an ounce early Wednesday, lower than USD1,725.92 on Tuesday.

Brent oil was trading at USD91.67 a barrel early Wednesday, slightly lower than USD91.77 late Tuesday.

Major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia were set to meet Wednesday as reports said they were mulling an output cut of up to two million barrels per day in a bid to prop up slumping prices.

If implemented, it would be the first such major cut since a landmark curb on production at the start of the Covid pandemic.

Energy prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, pushing inflation to decades-high levels that have put pressure on economies across the world. But they have fallen in recent months on concerns over dwindling demand and a slowdown in the global economy.

The 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and their 10 allies headed by Russia will hold their first in-person meeting since March 2020 at the group's headquarters in Vienna.

Most oil ministers were reluctant to divulge information on possible output cuts as they started to arrive in Vienna.

In Wednesday's UK corporate calendar, supermarket chain Tesco will publish half-year results.

In the economic calendar, there's a services PMI reading from the EU at 0900 BST before the UK at 0930 BST and the US at 1445 BST.

By Elizabeth Winter; [email protected]

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

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