Stocks down as economy confidence falls

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open in the red on Thursday, following news that confidence in the UK economy has fallen steeply over about the last decade.

Confidence in the strength of the UK economy has fallen to 28% from 45% in May 2015 following a cost-of-living crisis, Brexit, Covid and geopolitical upheaval, according to the long-running Barclays 10 Years Of Spend survey.

Meanwhile, the current year has seen the busiest May for agreed property sales since 2021, Rightmove reported.

The online property portal provider said May was also the busiest month for sales since March 2022.

The number of sales agreed across Great Britain increased 6% in May on an annual basis, and in Wales they jumped 15%. London sales, by contrast, only increased by 1%.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 3.2 points lower on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed up 0.2% at 8,801.29 on Wednesday.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.3547 early Thursday, lower than USD1.3566 at the London equities close on Wednesday.

The euro traded at USD1.1410 early Thursday, lower than USD1.1425 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY143.13 versus JPY142.98.

In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2%, the S&P 500 up 0.44 points and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.

In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.6%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%.

Gold was quoted at USD3,363.83 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD3,374.32 on Wednesday.

Brent oil was trading at USD64.80 a barrel early Thursday, higher than USD64.65 late Wednesday.

In Thursday's corporate calendar, there are full-year results from CMC Markets, Wizz Air and Mitie Group.

In the economic calendar on Thursday, the busy schedule includes construction PMI reads from the UK and others, and initial jobless claims from the US.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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