LONDON MARKET EARLY CALL: Stocks red as retailers face January blues

(Alliance News) - London blue-chips are set to open lower on Thursday, following a British Retail ...

Alliance News 23 January, 2025 | 6:59AM
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(Alliance News) - London blue-chips are set to open lower on Thursday, following a British Retail Consortium report that expectations around the health of the economy deteriorated in January.

Consumer expectations over the next three months of their personal financial situation dropped to minus 4 in January from minus 3 in December.

Consumers' expectations of the state of the economy worsened to minus 34 from minus 27, and personal spending on retail fell to minus 9 from minus 3 in December.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 30.1 points, 0.4% on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed down 3.16 points at 8,545.13 on Wednesday.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2315 early Thursday, lower than USD1.2317 at the London equities close on Wednesday.

The euro traded at USD1.0407 early Thursday, lower than USD1.0417 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted almost flat at JPY156.53 versus JPY156.49.

In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.3%.

"Clearly, the path of least resistance continues to lead to the upside in the equity space, with participants ably shrugging off tariff-related uncertainties for now," said Pepperstone's Michael Brown. "This seems a rational stance to take, given that President Trump likely views said measures as a negotiating tactic, and that Trump is unlikely to want to kibosh the equity rally, when he views Wall Street’s performance as a gauge of his own success, or otherwise."

In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.6%.

Gold was quoted at USD2,754.32 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD2,757.82 on Wednesday.

Brent oil was trading at USD77.95 a barrel early Thursday, lower than USD78.31 late Wednesday.

In Thursday's corporate calendar, Associated British Foods has a trading update and Watkin Jones releases annual results.

In the economic calendar on Thursday, look out for US jobless claims and eurozone consumer confidence.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

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