(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, after a strong session in the US on Thursday and solid performance from Asian equities.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 29.22 points, or 0.4%, higher at 7,860.80 on Friday. The index closed down 21.06 points, 0.3%, at 7,831.58 on Thursday.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended sharply higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.6%, the S&P 500 up 2.0%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.4%.
US stocks were lifted by strong tech earnings.
Meta Platforms was the star performer, surging 14% after first-quarter results beat expectations, boosted by a surprise increase in advertising revenue.
"The continued strength seen in the big tech stocks this week is no doubt a relief for investors who feared that the numbers would disappoint, however, they also come against a very low bar," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
Tech sector earnings continued after the closing bell on Thursday with the release of Amazon.com's first-quarter earnings.
Amazon.com said it swung to a profit in the first quarter of 2023, in line with rising revenue. In after-hours trading, shares in Amazon slipped 2.1% after having closed up 4.6% to USD109.82.
Earlier on Thursday, a report showed US economic growth slowed markedly and came in below market expectations in the first quarter, numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed.
US gross domestic product grew by 1.1% on an annualised basis in the first three months of 2023, compared to the last three months of 2022, slowing from a 2.6% rise on the same basis in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Economic growth fell short of FXStreet-cited consensus of a 1.9% annualised climb.
The dollar faltered as US economic growth disappointed.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2491 early Friday, virtually unchanged against USD1.2492 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at USD1.1019, lower than USD1.1024 late Thursday.
In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index was up 1.0%.
The Bank of Japan concluded its first meeting under new governor Kazuo Ueda, deciding to leave its ultra-easy monetary policy unchanged.
The central bank left its longstanding negative interest rate in place and made no further adjustments to the band in which rates for 10-year government bonds fluctuate.
Whilst it left rates unchanged, the BoJ said it would review them.
"The bank has decided to conduct a broad-perspective review of monetary policy, with a planned time frame of around one to one and a half years," the BoJ said in a statement following a two-day meeting.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY133.78, lower versus JPY133.95.
In China, the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong were both up 0.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.4%.
Gold was quoted at USD1,988.24 an ounce early Friday, higher than USD1,984.30 on Thursday. Brent oil was trading at USD78.73 a barrel, higher than USD78.08 late Thursday.
In Friday's corporate calendar, there first-quarter results from NatWest, full year results from James Fisher & Sons, and a trading statement from Pearson.
In the economic calendar, EU GDP data will be published at 1000 BST.
By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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