(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are set to extend their gains on Friday, after Wall Street rallied on Thursday following some hopeful US economic data.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open up 12.09 points, or 0.2%, 7,773.2 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 16.24 points, or 0.2% at 7,761.11 on Thursday. It remains down 0.1% for the week so far.
New York ended higher on Thursday, after a US GDP marginally beat market expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 0.6%, the S&P 500 up 1.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.8%.
The US economy continued to grow in the final three months of 2022, at a pace slightly above expectations, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday.
The bureau's first estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product showed 2.9% annual growth. Economists had expected an annualised growth rate of 2.8% in the last quarter of 2022, according to market consensus cited by FXStreet.
The data may suggest a soft landing ahead for the world's largest economy. It comes ahead of a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting starting on Tuesday next week.
Markets are expecting the US Federal Reserve to downshift to a 25 basis point hike from the 50 and 75 point hikes it made at meetings last year.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2381 early Friday, higher than USD1.2363 at the London equities close on Thursday.
The euro traded at USD1.0872 early Friday, higher than USD1.0862 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY129.90, lower versus JPY130.40.
In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.1%.
In China, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%.
Stock markets in China have been shut most of the week to mark Lunar New Year. Hong Kong re-opened on Thursday, while Shanghai will remain closed until Monday.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1.1%.
Australian annual producer price inflation eased to 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
This was down from 6.4% in the third quarter, and much lower than FXStreet-cited consensus of a 6.3% annual increase in prices. From the previous quarter, producer prices increased 0.7%, slowing from a 1.9% quarterly rise in the third quarter.
Gold was quoted at USD1,923.91 an ounce early Friday, lower than USD1,925,42 late on Thursday in London. Brent oil was trading at USD87.61 a barrel early Friday, higher than USD87.35 late Thursday.
In Friday's UK corporate calendar, there are trading statements from YouGov and Paragon Banking.
In the economic calendar, the retail sales index for Ireland is out at 1100 GMT.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter
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