(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open in a muted fashion on Wednesday, with some unease lingering in equity markets ahead of a US inflation reading later in the week.
Investors also digested some industrial data from China. The yen, meanwhile, tumbled as it continues to struggle despite the Bank of Japan's historic rate hike last week.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up just 0.3 points at 7,931.26 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 13.39 points, 0.2%, at 7,930.96 on Tuesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2619 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.2655 at the London equities close on Monday. The euro traded at USD1.0832 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.0850 late Tuesday.
China's industrial profit saw a double-digit rise at the beginning of 2024, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The NBS said major industrial firms saw a 10% year-on-year rise in profit in the first two months of the year. The statistics body combines data for January and February to account for the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday. The growth was led by a 17% rise in manufacturing profit.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.0%.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with representatives of US businesses, state media reported, as Beijing seeks to woo foreign investment and reassure American firms in the face of a slowing economy.
State media did not name who was at the meeting, which it said was also attended by representatives of academia. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported last week that a meeting between Xi and the presidents of US business lobby groups was in the works.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.4%.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY151.66 on Wednesday morning London time, versus JPY151.34 at the European equities close Tuesday.
The yen hit a 34-year low against the dollar on Wednesday, just over a week after the Bank of Japan announced a much-anticipated interest rate hike in a shift away from years of ultra-loose monetary policy.
The drop came after a top central bank official suggested it would continue to pursue an accommodative policy for the time being, echoing previous comments from the BoJ.
The unit weakened to JPY151.97 per dollar, its softest since 1990, raising speculation that authorities will intervene in markets to prop up the currency. But its value soon recovered to levels of around JPY151.72.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.5%.
The consumer price inflation rate in Australia was unchanged in February for the third month in a row, according to official figures.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the consumer price index rose 3.4% annually in February, matching the pace seen in both January and December. Market consensus, as cited by FXStreet, had expected the figure to tick up to 3.5%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,178.59 an ounce early Wednesday, higher than USD2,171.90 on Tuesday. Brent oil was trading at USD84.78 a barrel, lower than USD86.00 late Tuesday.
In Wednesday's corporate calendar, gold miner Endeavour Mining posts full-year results.
In the economic calendar on Wednesday, eurozone consumer confidence and economic sentiment index data are released at 1000 GMT.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
