14th Nov 2024 06:59
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly lower on Thursday, with a freshly Republican US Congress handing Donald Trump easy legislative power and the outlook still uncertain for other countries awaiting his tariff decisions.
"Trump's expected return will further complicate the US inflation picture, fuelling the fire with a potential mix of tariffs and a more significant fiscal deficit," SPI's Stephen Innes wrote. "While the Fed is likely to cut rates, albeit slower, the dollar stands tall as other major central banks scramble with easing policies in the face of tariff-induced strain.
"For Asia, particularly those economies closely linked to China, the dollar's dominance is poised to become an economic wrecking ball."
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 2.3 points, less than 0.1%, at 8,028.03 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed up 0.1% on Wednesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2691 early Thursday, lower than USD1.2714 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
UK pension "megafunds" are set to be created to help unlock billions of pounds of investment in businesses and infrastructure.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will use her first Mansion House speech as chancellor to outline the pensions shake-up.
Meanwhile, the UK housing market showed signs of strengthening in October, with buyer activity picking up, according to surveyors.
A net balance of 16% of property professionals reported house prices rising rather than falling in October, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.
Yorkshire and the Humber, and the South West of England were the only parts of the UK where property professionals reported seeing prices fall overall.
A net balance of 12% of professionals saw fresh buyer inquiries increase rather than decrease in October.
The euro traded at USD1.0552 early Thursday, lower than USD1.0568 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY155.83 versus JPY155.24.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1%, the S&P 500 up 1.39 points, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 1.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 1.1%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,554.99 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD2,591.88 on Wednesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD71.89 a barrel early Thursday, lower than USD72.32 late Wednesday.
In Thursday's corporate calendar, there is a glut of results and trading updates from various firms including Burberry, WH Smith and Kier Group.
In the economic calendar on Thursday, there is unemployment data from the eurozone and US, which also release GDP and PPI data respectively.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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