13th Feb 2015 07:36
LONDON (Alliance News) - London markets are set to open higher Friday, as investors remain confident after a ceasefire agreement was reached for Ukraine Thursday, despite the uncertainty still surrounding the future of Greece.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 23 points higher at 6,851,8. The index closed up 0.2% at 6,828.11 on Thursday, despite a report from the Bank of England that signalled an earlier rate hike than investors had anticipated.
"Investors appear confident that a Greek disaster can also be averted on unconfirmed reports that German and Greek officials were working on a compromise in Brussels as both sides looked to soften their positions, before the Eurogroup talks which are scheduled to begin on Monday," says Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK.
"The sticking points though are likely to remain the size of the debt and any financing needs beyond the end of this month, which means anyone hoping for a quick resolution are likely to be disappointed", Hewson adds.
In Europe, the German fourth quarter gross domestic product reading came in stronger than expected. GDP rose 1.6% year-on-year, above the economists expectations of 1.0%, while GDP quarter-on-quarter rose 0.7%, also above the consensus of 0.3%. Meanwhile, wholesale prices were down 0.4% month-on-month in January, a better figure compared to a 1% slide released in the previous reading.
The French economic growth slowed as expected in the fourth quarter, the statistical office Insee reported Friday. Gross domestic product rose 0.1% sequentially, in line with forecast, but slower than third quarter's 0.3% expansion. The fourth quarter growth was driven by robust foreign demand, while investment continued to fall and changes in inventories contributed -0.2 points.
Wall Street ended higher Thursday. The DJIA closed up 0.6%, the S&P 500 ended up 1% and the Nasdaq Composite finished up 1.2%.
In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed down 0.4%, and the Hang Seng trades up 1%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up 1%.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD60.08 a barrel Friday, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate is quoted at USD51.87 a barrel. Gold is quoted early Friday at USD1,230.81 an ounce.
Rolls-Royce Holdings reported a big drop in pretax profit and revenue for the year, hit by negative currency translation, reduced defence spending and world macroeconomic uncertainty.
The FTSE 100-listed aerospace group said its reported pretax profit for the year to the end of December was GBP67 million, a massive decline against the GBP1.7 billion reported a year earlier.
Anglo American reported an expected drop in underlying earnings on the back of weaker commodity prices and reported a USD3.9 billion impairment charge, mainly related to its iron ore mine in Brazil, but the company retained its dividend. For the year ended December 31, the miner reported underlying earnings before interest and tax of USD4.9 billion, a 25% reduction from GBP6.62 billion in 2013 due to weaker commodity prices which were partially offset by foreign exchange gains and increased production and sales.
In the economic calendar Friday, eurozone fourth-quarter GDP is at 1000 GMT. The UK Leading Economic Index is at 1000 GMT.
By Daniel Ruiz; [email protected]
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