26th Feb 2025 06:54
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 is set to open firmly in the green on Wednesday, ahead of consumer confidence data from France and Germany.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 65.9 points higher, 0.8%, at 8,734.57 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 0.1% at 8,668.67 on Tuesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2644 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.2653 at the London equities close on Tuesday.
The euro traded at USD1.0493 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.0501 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY149.49 versus JPY148.84.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.4%.
The US House of Representatives passed on Tuesday a budget resolution designed to deliver President Donald Trump's hardline agenda on immigration, tax reform and deep government spending cuts.
The resolution sets the blueprint for the 2025 federal government budget, with House committees now tasked with finding more than USD1.5 trillion in spending reductions and USD4.5 trillion in extended tax cuts over a decade.
Democrats say the cuts, as mandated in the resolution, will target social welfare programs, including Medicaid, which many lower-income US families rely on.
In New York Pepperstone's Michael Brown noted "the rally seen across the Treasury curve in yesterday's session", in part thanks to economy-related "jitters" which "were worsened by dismal consumer confidence figures".
"All of this, combined, has also seen a doveish repricing of Fed policy expectations...Money markets now discount 55bp of easing by year-end, up from 33bp just a week ago, and a path that is more doveish than the 2x 25bp cuts outlined by the Fed's December 'dot plot'," Brown said. "To me, in fact, such a path is probably overly doveish at this stage, given the tight labour market, and upside inflation risks associated with potential tariffs from the Trump Admin.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a degree of this doveishness unwind, once the month-end noise is out of the way."
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 3.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,909.48 an ounce early Wednesday, higher than USD2,895.74 on Tuesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD72.63 a barrel early Wednesday, lower than USD72.86 late Tuesday.
In Wednesday's corporate calendar, there are full-year results from Aston Martin Lagonda, Morgan Sindall and Rathbones.
In the economic calendar on Wednesday, there is construction output data from Ireland and producer price inflation from Spain.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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