(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, as the good mood following the latest European Central Bank decision continued, fuelled by the blockbuster Arm Holdings Nasdaq debut and positive economic data from China.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 is to open up 25.0 points, 0.3%, at 7,698.08 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed up 147.09 points, or 2.0% at 7,673.08 on Thursday. So far this week, it has added 2.6%.

European markets had rallied after the market interpreted comments from the ECB as being fairly dovish. The Frankfurt-based bank hiked rates by 25 basis points. Many believe it may be the central bank's last rate lift of the current hiking cycle.

The ECB said, that based on its current assessment, it believes interest rates have reached levels that, when maintained for a "sufficiently long duration", will make a "substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to the target".

The euro continued to struggle early Friday, trading at USD1.0651, down from USD1.0671 at the London equities close on Thursday.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2427, higher than USD1.2414. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY147.36, up versus JPY147.11.

In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended in the green, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.0%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both rose 0.8%.

Sentiment was boosted by the initial public offering of UK chip designer Arm Holdings, as its shares rose almost 25% in their stock market debut. It was the largest in nearly two years.

The shares opened at USD56.10 on the Nasdaq on Thursday, after having been priced at USD51. They closed at USD63.59, giving Arm a market value of USD68 billion.

It is a key moment for the Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group, which acquired Arm in 2016, as well as investment banks such as Goldman Sachs that recently have taken in far less revenue from underwriting and advisory fees.

SoftBank will retain a nearly 90% stake in Arm, and its shares were up 2.7% in late dealings in Tokyo. The wider Nikkei 225 index was up 1.4%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 1.4%.

Investors were pleasantly surprised by the latest release of economic data from China.

Retail sales jumped 4.6% on-year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That marks a big improvement on July's 2.5% and was far better than the 3% forecast in a survey of economists by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, industrial production climbed 4.5% on-year, which was also a big increase from July and more than estimated.

The stronger demand outlook helped to lift oil prices further, with Brent oil trading at USD94.45 a barrel early Friday, higher than USD93.49 on Thursday.

Gold was quoted at USD1,915.86 an ounce, higher than USD1,908.80.

In Friday's UK corporate calendar, there are full-year results from Petra Diamonds and half-year results from VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities.

The economic calendar has US industrial production data at 1415 BST.

By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter

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