|
European stocks opened higher on Friday as the dollar continued to be soft, while annual growth in wholesale prices in Germany slowed in July. US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska at 2030 BST. This, Pepperstone’s Michael Brown said, means ‘things will likely conclude a long while after the market closes for the week...Hence, there is the potential for significant gapping risk when markets get back up and running for the week on Sunday night, though positions will probably be squared up, especially in crude benchmarks, during the day today, to mitigate that risk somewhat.’ The FTSE 100 index opened up 23.41 points, 0.3%, at 9,200.65. The FTSE 250 was up 70.61 points, 0.3%, at 21,872.28, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.95 points, 0.1%, at 760.66. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 920.99, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 19,275.66, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.5% at 17,124.39. On the FTSE 100, Primark owner Associated British Foods rose 0.4%. AB Foods has agreed to acquire bread and bakery product maker and distributor Hovis Group from Endless LLP, saying the combined business ‘will be better placed to compete effectively’. It said profitability at its UK bakery business Allied Bakeries ‘has been increasingly challenged in recent years’ due to a loss of distribution network scale and declining demand for pre-sliced bread. ‘This transaction will create a UK bakeries business that is both profitable and sustainable over the long term,’ said Chief Executive George Weston. In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.5%. Wholesale prices in Germany fell at a monthly level, while annual growth decelerated in July, data published by the Federal Statistical Office showed. German wholesale prices grew 0.5% on-year in July, slowed from 0.9% in June. Monthly, wholesale prices fell 0.1% in July, after an increase of 0.2% in June. The statistical office noted that prices of coffee, tea, cocoa & spices were up 16% on-year in July, but 6.2% lower compared to June. Meanwhile, also in Germany around 67,600 ‘businesses of significant economic importance’ were founded in the first half of 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This marks a 9.4% increase compared with the same period last year, despite a challenging economic climate. But the number of ’economically significant’ businesses closing also rose, up 6.6% to about 51,800. Elsewhere on the continent, Switzerland’s adjusted gross domestic product growth is anticipated to have slowed markedly, flash data published by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed. The country’s seasonally and sport event-adjusted on-quarter GDP growth is expected to have decelerated to just 0.1% in the second quarter from 0.8% in the first quarter. The data covers a period before a 39% US tariff blow, which businesses described as a ‘horror scenario’, landed in early August. The pound was quoted higher at $1.3553 early on Friday in London, compared to $1.3541 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood higher at $1.1676, against $1.1650. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥147.14, lower compared to JP¥147.72. In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 1.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.7%. In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 11.01 points, the S&P 500 up 1.96 points and the Nasdaq Composite down 2.47 points. ‘PPI pointed to Pretty Punchy Inflation stateside yesterday, with prices at the factory gate having risen 0.9% MoM, and 3.3% YoY last month, both topping the forecast range by some margin,’ commented Brown. ‘On one hand, this is clearly worrying, and a reminder that inflationary risks remain tilted firmly to the upside, especially considering that PPI excludes exports, hence doesn’t directly account for any tariff impact. On the other hand, though, the components of the PPI print which feed into the PCE metric which is, of course, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge were soft-ish, so I suppose it’s not all bad news.’ The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.29%, widening from 4.28%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.89%, widening from 4.87%. Brent oil was quoted at $66.45 a barrel early in London on Friday, down from $66.80 late Thursday. Gold was quoted higher at $3,345.72 an ounce against $3,339.74. Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar, Ireland releases trade balance data and the US data releases start with retail sales and industrial production. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
