(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are set to open lower on Thursday as fresh virus restrictions in New York undermined US equities overnight.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 48.24 points lower, or 0.8%, at 6,337.00 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 closed up 19.91 points, or 0.3%, at 6,385.24 on Wednesday.
"While markets in Europe managed to eke out some modest gains close to their recent highs, US markets slipped back for the second day in a row, after New York mayor Bill de Blasio announced the closure of schools in response to the rise in cases," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
He added: "With mortality rates starting to rise again in Spain and Italy and infection rates rising to a record in Japan, this northern hemisphere winter looks like being a long and dark one."
De Blasio said the schools would shut from Thursday "out an abundance of caution" after the city recorded a seven-day average positivity rate of 3%. New York City is the largest school district in the US with 1.1 million students.
Wall Street on Wednesday ended in the red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.2%, the S&P 500 down 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite shedding 0.8%.
The decision in New York came as the Johns Hopkins University tally on Wednesday showed that more than a quarter million people have died from Covid-19 in the US.
The US, which has now registered 250,029 fatalities, has by far the highest national death toll, ahead of Brazil with 166,699 deaths, India with 130,993 deaths and Mexico with 99,026. The country now routinely records over 1,000 deaths and 150,000 new cases every day.
The novel coronavirus has killed more than 1.3 million people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
Outside of the US, Japan's prime minister said the country is on "maximum alert" after logging a record number of daily coronavirus infections. More than 2,000 cases were recorded nationwide on Wednesday, with nearly 500 in the capital Tokyo alone.
"We are now in a situation of maximum alert," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.4%. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY103.86, higher versus JPY103.71.
In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.5%. Â
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3234 early Thursday, lower than USD1.3300 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro softened to USD1.1850 from USD1.1870 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,860.54 an ounce early Thursday, down from USD1,879.79 on Wednesday. Brent oil was trading at USD44.09 a barrel, lower than USD44.44 late Wednesday.
The economic events calendar on Thursday has the latest US jobless claims figures at 1330 GMT.
The UK corporate agenda on Thursday has interim results from speciality chemicals firm Johnson Matthey, postal operator Royal Mail, and Anglo-South African investment bank Investec. There are also trading statements from DIY retailer Kingfisher and from merchant bank Close Brothers.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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