The FTSE 100 is set for another attempt at thawing out on Thursday, with sentiment improving after Nvidia’s stronger-than-expected earnings lifted global markets overnight.
Futures suggest London’s blue-chip index will open 53 points higher, after a lacklustre Wednesday session that ended with a 45-point drop to 9,507.41, marking its fifth consecutive daily decline.
Wall Street snapped its losing streak overnight, led by a 0.6% rise in the Nasdaq, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% and the Dow Jones edged up 0.1%.
Momentum improved further after the closing bell, when Nvidia posted third-quarter results that topped expectations, driven by surging demand for its AI-centric data-centre chips.
The upbeat tone has carried into Thursday trading: US futures are firmly higher, with Nasdaq futures up 1.8% and the S&P 500 pointing to a 1.3% rise. Across Asia, markets are rallying too — Japan’s Nikkei jumped 2.65%, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.9%.
The Bank of England is widely expected to cut interest rates at its next meeting on 18 December, after fresh data signalled that UK inflation may finally have peaked — though economists remain divided on whether this will mark the end of the current easing cycle.
UK consumer price inflation slowed to 3.6% in October, down from 3.8% in September. The figure came in slightly above both market forecasts and the Bank’s own projections, but still reinforced the view that price pressures are easing.
