Stock prices in London opened in the green on Friday after the Bank of England and the European Central Bank decided to hold their interest rates, and ahead of eurozone trade data.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 8.49 points, 0.1%, at 7,657.47. The FTSE 250 was up 103.00 points, 0.5%, at 19,359.96, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.69 of a point, 0.1%, at 738.53.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 764.64, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.8% at 16,860.62, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 14,152.33.
The US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England all chose to hold interest rates this week, but some central banks were more dovish than others.
Notably, the Fed surprised markets. Bank rate expectations were ‘modestly revised’ following the decision, with a cut in May expected.
However, speaking at a press conference after the announcement, ECB President Lagarde said the bank ‘did not discuss rate cuts at all - no discussion, no debate on this issue’.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the outcome was split with six Monetary Policy Committee members, Governor Andrew Bailey included, favouring the hold. Three would have preferred rates to have been lifted by 25 basis points, namely Megan Greene, Jonathan Haskel and Catherine Mann.
‘This being said, the Fed is the Fed and you can’t fight the Fed for long. This is what traders say, and this is also true for the central banks,’ said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Stock prices in New York nudged higher on Thursday, with euphoria from Federal Reserve’s slight policy pivot spilling over to a new trading day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.9%.
Overnight, data showed that Chinese retail sales rose less than expected last month.
The 10.1% on-year increase was short of the 12.5% forecast in a survey of analysts by Bloomberg.
The data shows that demand in the world’s number two economy remains sluggish a year after strict Covid containment measures were lifted.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.4%.
France’s rate of consumer price inflation eased to below 4% for the first since February of last year, according to new data from Insee on Friday.
The consumer price index rose 3.5% in November from a year before, slowing from a 4.0% annual rise in October. The CPI rate fell by 0.2% month-on-month in November. They had risen 0.1% in October from September.
Still to come on Friday, investors will be eyeing a slew of PMI data. This includes the eurozone at 0900 GMT, the UK at 0930 GMT and the US at 1445 GMT.
The pound was quoted at $1.2743 early on Friday in London, lower compared to $1.2762 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at $1.0953, lower against $1.0994. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥141.72, higher compared to JP¥141.60.
London’s FTSE 100 edged slightly higher on Friday.
At the top of the index were DS Smith, Glencore and Flutter Entertainment, up 4.2%, 2.8% and 2.3%, respectively.
In the FTSE 250, Trainline surged 19%.
On Thursday, Trainline noted the UK Department for Transport will no longer pursue creating a ticket retailing website and app.
The proposal for a Great British Railways app was first mooted in May 2021 as part of a white paper. GBR is a planned state-owned body that would oversee UK rail transport.
It was intended for the new body aims to sell tickets via a website and app, potentially putting it in competition with Trainline.
Trainline shares slumped 23% on May 20, 2021, the day overhaul plans were announced.
Barclays raised its stock to ’equal weight’ from ’underweight.’
On London’s AIM, Getech fell 25%.
The green hydrogen company said there has been ‘a growing level of caution’ amongst its client base over the last two to three months. It said that this was ‘due to the more challenging economic and unstable political environment around the world.’
Based on this, Getech expects revenue levels to be below market expectations.
Abingdon Health rose 13%, ahead of its annual general meeting.
Chief Executive Chris Yate said its revenue for the first half of financial 2024 will be ‘significantly higher’ year-on-year.
Brent oil was quoted at $76.59 a barrel early in London on Friday, down from $76.70 late Thursday. Gold was quoted at $2,038.90 an ounce, down slightly against $2,039.11.
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