Stocks called down as New York rally cools

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Friday, following Wall Street which closed down lower.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 12.8 points, 0.2%, at 8,425.85 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed down 7.15 points, 0.1%, at 8,438.65 on Thursday.

In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.4%.

Chinese industrial production picked up in April but consumption slowed, official figures showed, as woes in the property sector and elsewhere continued to weigh on economic recovery.

Industrial output rose 6.7% on-year last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, building on a 4.5% increase in March. The figure was higher than the 5.5% tipped in a Bloomberg forecast of economists.

However, retail sales growth – China's key gauge of consumer spending – continued to slow, expanding just 2.3% – down from 3.1% in March and lower than forecasts.

In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.8%.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2661 early Friday, lower than USD1.2671 at the London equities close on Thursday.

The euro traded at USD1.0862 early Friday, lower than USD1.0870 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY155.78, higher versus JPY155.26.

Gold was quoted at USD2,381.30 an ounce early Friday, slightly lower than USD2,381.33 on Thursday.

Brent oil was trading at USD83.54 a barrel early Friday, higher than USD83.05 late Thursday.

Friday's economic calendar has a eurozone inflation reading at 1000 BST.

The local corporate calendar has annual results from property investor Land Securities.

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter

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