Stocks called down ahead of key US data

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Thursday, as risk sentiment remains weak ahead of Friday's US inflation print.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 30.77 points, 0.4%, at 8,152.30 on Thursday. The index of London large-caps closed down 71.11 points, 0.9%, at 8,183.07 on Wednesday.

In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%.

Eyes are on Friday's core personal consumption expenditures index.

The numbers are expected to show that the core personal consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve's preferred US inflation gauge, rose 2.8% year-on-year in April, the same pace of growth as in March.

Before that on Thursday, there is a US gross domestic product reading at 1330 BST.

Outlooks on the US economy have become gloomier with reports of rising uncertainty and worries over risks, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

The views come as discretionary spending cooled and consumers became more sensitive to costs in recent weeks, while job gains were largely modest to negligible, the US central bank said in its "beige book" survey of economic conditions.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2694 early Thursday, lower than USD1.2710 at the London equities close on Wednesday.

The euro traded at USD1.0795 early Thursday, lower than USD1.0811 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY157.22, down versus JPY157.56.

In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 1.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.5%.

Gold was quoted at USD2,334.70 an ounce early Thursday, lower than USD2,339.63 on Wednesday.

Brent oil was trading at USD83.22 a barrel early Thursday, lower than USD83.50 late Wednesday.

Thursday's economic calendar has a eurozone unemployment reading at 1000 BST, before Irish inflation data at 1100 BST.

The local corporate diary has annual results from automotive online marketplace and classified advertising business Auto Trader and bootmaker Dr Martens.

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter

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