(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open flat on Tuesday, as central banking decisions loom.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open just 0.91 of a point higher on Tuesday at 7,861.0. The FTSE 100 index closed up 16.00 points, or 0.2%, at 7,860.07 on Monday.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY128.72 early on Tuesday, up versus JPY128.55 at the London equities close on Monday.
The Japanese yen is weakening ahead of a key monetary policy announcement from the Bank of Japan on Wednesday.
The central bank's two-day policy meeting kicked off on Tuesday. There has been speculation that the BoJ will call time on its yield curve control policy.
The BoJ bought over JPY2 trillion, or USD15.58 billion, worth of government bonds on Monday ahead of its meeting, according to Nikkei.
The yield on the 10-year government bond, which the financial newspaper noted serves as a benchmark for long-term interest rates, spiked above the BoJ's 0.5% target. It was the second-successive day that the yield has spiked to above the BoJ's target.
In Tokyo on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index was up 1.2%
The dollar was flat against other major currencies on Tuesday morning.
The euro traded at USD1.0831 early Tuesday, a touch higher than USD1.0822 late Monday. Sterling was quoted at USD1.2199, slightly lower than USD1.2203 on Monday.
Mortgage debt and home repossessions are much lower than during previous financial crises, the Bank of England's governor said as he emphasised lenders' "obligation" to support borrowers on Monday.
In a meeting about the UK's financial stability, Andrew Bailey told the Treasury Committee of Parliament that banks are much stronger financially now than in the past.
He said: "Overall mortgage debt service levels are lower than they were at points in history when we had stress – before the financial crisis and in the early '90s."
In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2%, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.2%.
China's economy grew 3.0% in 2022, official data showed, one of the weakest rates in 40 years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and a real estate crisis.
Beijing had set itself a target of 5.5% annual growth, a rate already much lower than the performance of 2021, when the country's gross domestic product increased more than 8%.
In the fourth quarter, China's economy grew 2.9% year-on-year, compared with 3.9% in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
Tuesday's figures represent China's worst growth figures since a 1.6% contraction in 1976 – the year Mao Zedong died – and excluding 2020, after the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan in late 2019.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed marginally lower.
On Monday, financial markets in the US were closed for a public holiday.
Global conflicts and monetary tightening by central banks will probably help tip the world economy into a recession in 2023, but inflation appears to have finally peaked, a survey of economists by the World Economic Forum found.
Almost two-thirds of senior economists from the public and private sector believe a global recession is likely this year, of which 18% consider it extremely likely - a number that has doubled from the previous survey released in September.
Gold was quoted at USD1,910.14 an ounce early Tuesday, sharply lower than USD1,917.90 on Monday. Brent oil was trading at USD84.70 a barrel, higher than USD84.20.
In Tuesday's UK corporate calendar, there are trading statements from online supermarket Ocado, consumer credit checker Experian, and housebuilder Henry Boot.
By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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