(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, following a rally on Wall Street, and the Bank of England keeping interest rates on hold.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open called up 63.1 points, 0.8%, at 7,685.26 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed down 8.41 points, 0.1%, at 7,622.16 on Thursday.

In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.0%. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.3%.

At its February meeting, the BoE kept its bank rate at 5.25%. It is the fourth successive hold, following one in September, which ended a streak of 14 consecutive hikes since December 2021, and two more in November and December. The BoE had rapidly increased bank rate from a Covid-19-induced low of 0.10%.

It was a split outcome, with six Monetary Policy Committee members, Governor Andrew Bailey included, favouring the hold. Two would have preferred rates to have been lifted by 25 basis points, they were Jonathan Haskel and Catherine Mann. One member, Swati Dhingra, preferred to reduce bank rate by 25 basis points, to 5%.

However, Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said: "Events in the Red Sea appear to be influencing policymakers and generating a lot of caution with concerns about an uptick in inflation during the summer months."

However, somewhat more positively, Hamas has given "initial positive confirmation" to a proposal for the cessation of fighting in Gaza and the release of hostages, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said.

US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Israeli intelligence officials in Paris on Sunday where they proposed a six-week pause in the Gaza war and a hostage-prisoner exchange for Hamas to review.

"That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas' side," Majed al-Ansari told an audience at a Washington-based graduate school.

On the back of the news, Brent oil was trading at USD79.10 a barrel early Friday, lower than USD81.21 late Thursday.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2749 early Friday, higher than USD1.2708 at the London equities close on Thursday.

The euro traded at USD1.0879 early Friday, higher than USD1.0851 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY146.44, higher versus JPY146.13.

In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 1.5%.

Gold was quoted at USD2,054.99 an ounce early Friday, lower than USD2,061.02 on Thursday.

In Friday's UK corporate calendar, YouGov posts a trading statement.

In the economic calendar on Friday eyes are on US nonfarm payrolls data to be released at 1330 GMT.

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.