London stocks are set to open higher on Friday, rounding off a hectic trading week as investors look ahead to the start of earnings season next week.
FTSE 100 futures are pointing to a gain of around 32 points, after Thursday’s session saw an intraday decline of more than 90 points pared back to just 16.59 points by the close, leaving the index at 10,472.45.
Sterling strengthened against the dollar to USD1.3424 early Friday from USD1.3397 at the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, the pound rose to EUR1.1736 from EUR1.1717.
The euro traded at USD1.1437, up slightly from USD1.1432 late Thursday, while the dollar weakened against the yen to JPY161.64 from JPY162.37.
Middle East developments remained firmly in focus after traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply following attacks on vessels and renewed military exchanges between the US and Iran.
Shipping flows through the strategic waterway had recovered to their highest levels since the start of the conflict after a truce was agreed in mid-June, although volumes remained at around one-third of normal peacetime levels.
That recovery has now stalled. According to Kpler data, just six commodity tankers had crossed the strait by 1430 GMT on Thursday, compared with 21 vessels on Wednesday.
Brent crude was quoted at USD76.43 a barrel early Friday, down from USD77.03 late Thursday.
In the US, Wall Street closed higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.3%.
Asian markets were also mostly positive on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.5% after producer prices increased by more than expected in June.
The Bank of Japan said its preliminary producer price index rose 0.4% month-on-month, slowing from an upwardly revised 1.1% increase in May but ahead of expectations for a 0.3% rise.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.3% higher.
Gold was quoted at USD4,112.30 an ounce early Friday, down from USD4,126.64 on Thursday.
