(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, following the Bank of England's decision to raise interest rates again on Thursday and ahead of the US nonfarm payrolls.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 9.94, or 0.1%, at 7,539.1 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed down 32.47 points, 0.4%, at 7,529.16 on Thursday.
The BoE lifted UK interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday. It took the benchmark bank rate to 5.25% from 5.00% previously, with a majority of Monetary Policy Committee members voting for the hike.
Two members - Jonathan Haskel and Catherine Mann - preferred a 50 basis point hike and one member - Swati Dhingra - preferred to maintain the bank rate at 5.00%.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2734 early Friday, higher than USD1.2719 at the London equities close on Thursday.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2%, the S&P 500down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
On Friday, there is the latest US nonfarm payrolls, at 1330 BST.
On Thursday, initial claims for unemployment insurance in the US were higher week-on-week, but came in line with market forecasts, according to figures from the US Department of Labor.
Initial jobless claim in the week that ended July 22 totalled 227,000, up 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 221,000.
The latest figure came in line with the FXStreet-cited market consensus.
The euro traded at USD1.0958 early Friday, higher than USD1.0951 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY142.42, up versus JPY142.22.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down marginally. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.1%.
Gold was quoted at USD1,936.71 an ounce early Friday, lower than USD1,937.55 on Thursday. Brent oil was trading at USD85.23 a barrel early Friday, higher than USD84.90 late Thursday.
Friday's economic calendar has a UK construction purchasing managers' index reading at 0930 BST and eurozone retail sales at 1000 BST.
The local corporate calendar has half-year results from advertising agency WPP.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter
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