(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open in the green on Thursday, with investors feeling optimistic ahead of the afternoon's inflation print from the US.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 29.8 points, 0.4%, at 7,681.56 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps ended down 32.20 points, 0.4%, at 7,651.76 on Wednesday.
According to FXStreet, the consensus is for the US headline consumer price index to edge up to 3.2% annually in December, from 3.1% in November. However, core inflation - which excludes food and energy - is expected to cool to 3.8% from 4.0%.
"Today's December inflation numbers have the potential to either add to the expectation of a move in March, or push it out until later in the year," said CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson.
The dollar was weaker against major currencies in early exchanges in Europe, suggesting traders are pinning their hopes on a benign inflation print.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2770 early Thursday, rising from USD1.2725 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro traded at USD1.0984, higher than USD1.0958. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY145.46, down versus JPY145.74.
The governor of the Bank of England has said further "global shocks" are a major threat to the UK economy as he told MPs he is monitoring the situation in the Red Sea closely amid concerns over oil supplies.
Andrew Bailey also said he was hoping to see mortgage costs continue to fall after the bank paused hiking interest rates. Bailey said: "We've certainly seen – as best we can tell from the monitoring – shipping traffic is being affected and is being rerouted. That will increase shipping prices and shipping costs.
"I think initially that will be an issue in the monetary policy world."
However, he noted that fortunately been no "prolonged spike" in oil prices as a result.
Brent oil was trading at USD77.26 a barrel early Thursday, little changed from USD77.36 on Wednesday afternoon.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.5%, the S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo jumped 1.9%, closing above 35,000 for the first time in nearly 34 years. It gained further ground amid the recent weakness in the yen, and a positive performance in the technology sector.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.5%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,033.72 an ounce early Thursday, higher than USD2,026.60 on Wednesday.
Thursday's economic calendar has the key US inflation reading, and the latest initial jobless claims data, at 1330 GMT.
The local corporate calendar has a trading statement from retail Marks & Spencer, grocer Tesco and hotel company Whitbread.
By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News deputy news editor
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