(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, ahead of non-sale payrolls and wholesale inventories from the US, and after the European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in five years on Thursday.

According to the CBI, Britain's economy will see faster-than-expected growth this year and next as the outlook brightens after a tough 2023.

Meanwhile, in corporate news, C&C Group said that Chief Executive Officer Patrick McMahon has stepped down with immediate effect over issues that occurred while he was chief financial officer.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:

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MARKETS

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FTSE 100: called up 0.1% at 8,298.00

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Hang Seng: down 0.6% at 18,375.36

Nikkei 225: closed down 0.1% at 38,658.94

S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.5% at 7,860.00

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DJIA: closed up 78.84 points, 0.2%, at 38,886.17

S&P 500: closed down slightly at 5,352.96

Nasdaq Composite: closed down 14.78 points, 0.1%, at 17,173.12

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EUR: up at USD1.0889 (USD1.0882)

GBP: up at USD1.2786 (USD1.2783)

USD: down at JPY155.24 (JPY156.03)

Gold: up at USD2,376.70 per ounce (USD2,374.90)

(Brent): up at USD79.89 a barrel (USD79.69)

(changes since previous London equities close)

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ECONOMICS

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Friday's key economic events still to come:

08:30 EDT Canada unemployment

11:00 CEST eurozone unemployment

11:00 CEST eurozone GDP

16:15 CEST eurozone European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde speaks

10:00 CEST eurozone European Central Bank executive board member Isabel Schnabel speaks

08:45 CEST France current account

08:45 CEST France trade balance

08:00 CEST Germany industrial production

08:00 CEST Germany trade balance

11:00 IST Ireland industrial production

11:00 IST Ireland unemployment

08:30 EDT US nonfarm payrolls

10:00 EDT US wholesale inventories

12:00 EDT US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook speaks

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Britain's economy will see faster-than-expected growth this year and next as the outlook brightens after a tough 2023, according to the CBI. The business group has upped its forecasts for UK growth to 1% in 2024 and 1.9% in 2025 thanks to an expected pick-up in consumer spending as inflation falls back and wages remain robust. It marks an upgrade on the CBI's December predictions for expansion of 0.8% in 2024 and 1.6% in 2025 and comes after the UK eked out growth of a paltry 0.1% in 2023, having slipped into a technical recession at the end of last year. The forecast also sees the CBI giving a much rosier outlook than the Bank of England, which predicted growth of 0.5% for this year in its last set of quarterly forecasts in May. The report also follows hot on the heels of an upgrade this week from fellow business group, the British Chambers of Commerce, which is now predicting growth of 0.8% in 2024 and 1% in 2025.

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The average UK house price fell by 0.1% month on month or or around GBP170 in cash terms in May, according to an index. The typical property value was GBP288,688, which was 1.5% higher than a year earlier, Halifax said. Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages, Halifax, said: "Market activity remained resilient throughout the spring months, supported by strong nominal wage growth and some evidence of an improvement in confidence about the economic outlook. "This has been reflected in a broadly stable picture in terms of property price movements, with the average cost of a property little changed over the last three months. A period of relative stability in both house prices and interest rates should give a degree of confidence to both buyers and sellers. While home buyers and those remortgaging will continue to respond to changes in borrowing costs, set against a backdrop of a limited supply of available properties, the market is unlikely to see huge fluctuations in the near term."

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China's exports accelerated far more than expected in May but imports slowed, official figures showed Friday, reported AFP. Overseas shipments surged 7.6% on-year in dollar terms, the General Administration of Customs said – much better than April's 1.5% and also beating the 5.7% forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The latest figures represent a second consecutive month of growth, following a brief year-on-year decline of 7.5% in March. But various headwinds facing China's trade outlook remain, with combined exports and imports with the US down 1.4% in May amid continuing geopolitical spats between the superpowers. Trade between China and Russia grew 2.9% last month, though Chinese exports to its neighbour fell for the first time since 2020. China's total imports grew 1.8% on-year in May, the data showed, down from the 8.4% surge recorded in April.

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Japan's household spending rose in April for the first time in 14 months, official data showed Friday, as wages grow at the fastest pace in three decades. The figure was up 0.5% on-year with more money spent on education, clothes and transport, including cars, according to the internal affairs ministry. Although "wage growth is not keeping up with price increases, it's expected that consumer spending will pick up as the employment and income environment improves", government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday. Japan's largest business group Keidanren last month put the rate of wage increases among major companies at 5.58% – the first time it has topped five percent in 33 years. In April, the pace of Japanese inflation slowed to 2.2% as gas bills fell.

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Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail on Thursday with a trip to Arizona, his first appearance in a battleground state since he was convicted in a hush money scandal. He repeated his critiques of the case against him as politically motivated and called for his conviction to be overturned on appeal. "Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out or we're not going to have a country anymore," Mr Trump said at a Phoenix town hall organised by Turning Point, a conservative youth organisation. Mr Trump is expected to appeal last month's conviction on all 34 charges in his New York hush money trial, in which he became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes.

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BROKER RATING CHANGES

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Bank of America raises Babcock International price target to 645 (565) pence - 'buy'

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Royal Bank of Canada raises Auto Trader Group target to 760 (700) pence - 'sector perform'

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COMPANIES - FTSE 250

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C&C Group said that Chief Executive Officer Patrick McMahon has stepped down with immediate effect over issues that occurred while he was chief financial officer. He will remain with the company until September, and Chair Ralph Findlay will take on the role of CEO for the next 12 to 18 months. According to the board and audit committee, there were failures in the group's reporting framework during McMahon's previous tenure as CFO, and parts of the organisation behaviours "fell short of the levels of transparency demanded". Also on Friday, C&C said that the publication of its financial 2024 accounts would be delayed until the end of June. It expects a pretax loss of EUR111 million, swung from profit of EUR52 million a year prior, and attributed this decline to a EUR125 million goodwill impairment. Revenue is expected to be EUR1.65 billion, down from EUR1.69 billion. The firm also announced plans for a new EUR15 million share buyback, and proposed a final dividend of 3.97 euro cents.

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Worldwide Healthcare Trust posts net asset value per share as at March 31 of 381.1 pence, up from 343.5p a year prior. Net asset value total return was positive 12.0%, versus 10.9% from its benchmark. Dividends per share came to 2.8p, down from 3.1p. Chair Doug McCutcheon said: "While stock market volatility is to be expected, and in the coming year may be influenced by elections in the US and UK, our portfolio manager, OrbiMed, continues to remain positive on the outlook for the healthcare sector and our company's strategy for maximizing shareholder value over time. They believe that the overall future of the healthcare industry remains strong due to increasing demand globally, driven by a combination of the world’s aging population and improving access to healthcare products and services worldwide. At the same time, the rapid pace of innovation continues unabated, leading to the availability of new products and treatments."

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OTHER COMPANIES

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Helios announced the resignation of CEO Martin Reith, who steps down "to pursue other opportunities". Michael Wade, currently non-executive chair, will become executive chair with immediate effect as the search for Wade's successor begins. Nigel Hanbury, currently executive deputy chair, will become non-executive deputy chair. Further, confirms that it has explored the potential of establishing a new 'follow only' syndicate at Lloyd's, but it has decided not to pursue this concept in order to focus exclusively on supporting its spread portfolio.

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By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter

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