22nd Aug 2025 09:00
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Friday, as US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech draws nearer.
Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya stated that "all eyes" are on Powell ahead of his address, set for Friday afternoon UK time.
"While he may stick to a "data-dependent" message, the venue has historically hosted major policy shifts," she explained. "Markets are alert to any surprise, and there is a greater chance that we will see a hawkish surprise than the contrary. A cautiously hawkish tone from Powell could further unwind the market's extra-dovish positioning."
The FTSE 100 index opened down 17.84 points, 0.2%, at 9,291.36. The FTSE 250 was down 4.58 points at 21,813.26, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.34 points at 758.52.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 930.86, the Cboe UK 250 was down marginally at 19,144.71, and the Cboe Small Companies was up slightly at 17,155.22.
On AIM, Revolution Beauty climbed 10% after a busy open.
As well as releasing its annual results, which included a GBP16.8 million pretax loss and revenue falling 26% on-year to GBP142.6 million, the company announced that its co-founders, Adam Minto and Tom Allsworth, are returning. Allsworth will be the next chief executive officer, while Minto will have a consultancy role.
It also announced a placing, subscription and retail offer worth up to about GBP16.5 million, and the termination of its formal sales process as it "has not received a proposal that would lead to an offer...which would be recommendable by the board".
Later on Friday morning, Revolution Beauty reported that the placing and subscription had raised GBP15 million in total. The up to GBP1.5 million retail offer has not yet completed.
Smaller cap Warehouse REIT lost 1.1%.
Tritax Big Box REIT, up 0.2% on the FTSE 250, said it will not increase its takeover offer for Warehouse REIT, which as of last month was worth 111.1p per Warehouse share.
Warehouse has previously in July switched to recommending a 115.00p per share offer from Blackstone, up 0.3% after-hours in New York.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3406 early on Friday in London, compared to USD1.3426 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at USD1.1593, lower against USD1.1619. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY148.56, higher compared to JPY148.21.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.6%.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.3%, the S&P 500 down 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.
Following the latest Fed minutes, in which "several policymakers reiterated a cautious stance toward immediate rate cuts", Ozkardeskaya noted: "The doves are no longer certain that the Fed will cut rates in September.
"Market pricing now implies around a 75% probability of a 25bp cut, down from near certainty last week when some even considered 50bp cuts."
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.33%, narrowing from 4.34% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.93%, narrowing from 4.94%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD67.82 a barrel early in London on Friday from USD67.13 late Thursday.
"Crude oil held steady in early Friday trading after two days of rebound," Naga's Frank Walbaum commented, "as the market weighed hopes for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal against lingering obstacles to negotiations.
"The lack of progress on a Putin-Zelenskiy summit and on security guarantees reinforced expectations of prolonged conflict and potentially tougher US sanctions, adding a risk premium that could reverse part of the recent weeks' decline."
At Jackson Hole, he further noted, "clues on possible Federal Reserve rate cuts...could support growth and oil demand".
Gold was quoted lower at USD3,330.21 an ounce against USD3,343.46.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar, Ireland wholesale prices will be out at 1100 BST.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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