7th Nov 2024 07:02
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Thursday, following the US presidential election victory of tariff enthusiast Donald Trump, and as investors keep close eyes on the US Federal Reserve's and Bank of England's rate calls.
"Overall, a Trump presidency...has prompted us to nudge up our nearer term global GDP growth forecasts slightly," wrote Oxford Economics. "While formulating and implementing policies will take time, the anticipation of looser fiscal policy could begin to raise growth next year. The strength and durability of the boost will depend partly on the timing and scale of tariff increases as well as changes to migration policy.
"Targeted tariffs on China, the EU, Mexico, and Canada will eventually depress exports of the affected sectors to the US. But the impact on overall export volumes may be tempered by trade diversification and higher US demand thanks to much looser US fiscal policy. That said, the impact on different sectors could be large depending on the form of the new tariff regime."
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 32.7 points, 0.4%, at 8,199.38 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed down 0.1% at 8,166.68 on Wednesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2931 early Thursday, lower than USD1.2877 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
Robert Habeck, Germany's economy minister and vice-chancellor, has appealed to citizens to keep faith in the country's democracy, despite the current political crisis.
On Wednesday Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Christian Lindner, who was the finance minister, and shortly after that Lindner, the head of the pro-business Free Democrats, quit the government. Scholz then called for a confidence vote on January 15 that could trigger early elections.
The euro traded at USD1.0748 early Thursday, lower than USD1.0728 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY154.03, down versus JPY154.48.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 3.6%, the S&P 500 up 2.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 3.0%.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 2.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.6%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,655.66 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD2,665.82 on Wednesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD75.12 a barrel early Thursday, slightly lower than USD75.18 late Wednesday.
In Thursday's corporate calendar, it's a busy day for earnings reports including half-year results from Auto Trader, J Sainsbury and BT.
In the economic calendar on Thursday, as well as the rate calls there are construction PMI releases from the eurozone, France and Germany.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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