(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Thursday, ahead of interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and European Central Bank.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open called up 71.5 points, 1.0%, at 7,623.90 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed up 5.67 points, 0.1%, at 7,548.44 on Wednesday.
The BoE announces its rate decision at 1200 GMT, before the ECB at 1315 GMT. A press conference with President Christine Lagarde follows the ECB decision at 1345 GMT. There is no post-decision conference for the BoE this time.
The US Federal Reserve was the first of the three central banks to make an interest rate decision.
On Wednesday, the US Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, as expected, but signalled rate cuts of as much as 75 basis points in the coming year.
The decision from the Federal Open Market Committee extends a pause in monetary policy that has been in place since July, leaving the federal funds rate at a 22-year high of 5.25% to 5.5%.
But the economic projections that accompanied the US central bank's statement showed that most Federal Reserve officials forecast that the US central bank could cut rates by around 75 basis points next year.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, following the decision. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were all up 1.4%.
The news sparked a sharp fall in the dollar. Sterling was quoted at USD1.2639 early Thursday, higher than USD1.2525 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro traded at USD1.0900 early Thursday, higher than USD1.0792 late Wednesday.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 1.7%.
Four Japanese ministers tendered their resignations on Thursday as unpopular Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reels from a major corruption scandal in the ruling party.
The cabinet crisis comes after allegations of kickbacks of JPY500 million, around USD3.4 million, in the faction-riven Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed the world's third-largest economy almost uninterrupted for decades.
Meanwhile, data showed that Japan's industrial production improved in October. The seasonally adjusted index of production edged up 1.3% month-on-month to 104.9 points, while the original index improved yearly by 1.1% to 106.6 points.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY141.75, down versus JPY145.11.
Gold was quoted at USD2,035.44 an ounce early Thursday, rallying from USD1,983.30 on Wednesday. Brent oil was trading at USD74.65 a barrel early Thursday, higher than USD73.80 late Wednesday.
Thursday's local corporate calendar has a trading statement from distribution firm Bunzl and annual results from electricals retailer Currys.
In the economic calendar on Thursday, there are the latest retail sales and initial jobless claims data from the US at 1330 GMT.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
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