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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Friday, as investors shook off nerves ahead of US inflation data this afternoon.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 42.14 points, 0.5%, at 8,121.00. The FTSE 250 was up 151.94 points, 0.8%, at 19,753.92, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.41 points, 0.3%, at 755.53.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.6% at 811.01, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.7% at 17064.32, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 15,446.19.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.5%.
Friday's economic calendar has the monthly US PCE reading for March at 1330 BST.
The annual rise in the core PCE index, the Fed's preferred gauge, is expected to have eased to 2.6% in March from 2.8% in February.
"The fear is to see a higher inflation print, of course, which would further batter the Fed cut expectations," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank.
Data on Thursday showed that US economic growth slowed in the first three months of the year, coming in weaker than expected, though inflation pressure picked up.
The BEA said US gross domestic product grew 1.6% quarter-on-quarter on an annualised basis in the three months to March 31. Growth eased from a 3.4% rally in the final three months of 2023.
The latest reading fell short of FXStreet cited consensus, which had predicted a 2.5% climb.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.0%, the S&P 500 down 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2507 early on Friday in London, up compared to USD1.2490 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at USD1.0730, up against USD1.0713.
In Japan on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.8%.
The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-low interest rates unchanged Friday and stopped short of signalling another hike, pushing the yen to a fresh 34-year low against the dollar.
Officials last month announced the first increase in borrowing costs for 17 years as inflation continued to stick above their two percent target but warned they would take a steady approach to normalising monetary policy.
While widely expected, Friday's decision had been keenly awaited to see if decision-makers would respond to a drop in the yen that has pushed it to levels not seen since 1990.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY156.70, higher compared to JPY155.52.
In the FTSE 100, Anglo American lost 1.0%, after it said its board has "unanimously" rejected an "opportunistic" offer from larger peer BHP.
This comes after Australia's BHP on Thursday confirmed it had offered to buy Anglo American in an all-share deal valuing the mining group at GBP31.1 billion.
In a formal response, Anglo American on Friday said its board had considered the BHP proposal with its advisers and concluded that the offer "significantly undervalues" the company and its future prospects.
"In addition, the proposal contemplates a structure which the board believes is highly unattractive for Anglo American's shareholders, given the uncertainty and complexity inherent in the proposal, and significant execution risks," Anglo American said.
NatWest rose 3.2%.
The Edinburgh-based bank reported that total income fell to GBP3.48 billion in the first quarter of 2024 from GBP3.88 billion a year earlier. Pretax profit fell to GBP1.33 billion from GBP1.81 billion.
Chief Executive Paul Thwaite said: "Our performance is grounded in the vital role we play in the economy and in the lives of our 19 million customers. Though macro-uncertainty continues, customer confidence and activity is improving, with both lending and deposits up in the quarter and impairments remaining low, reflecting our well-diversified business."
In the FTSE 250, Darktrace shot up 20% at 619.20p, after it agreed to be taken over by Thoma Bravo.
Darktrace said it has agreed to an all-cash takeover offer worth USD5.32 billion from funds managed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
Chicago-based Thoma Bravo, which focuses on software investments, offers USD7.75 in cash per Darktrace share. This is equivalent to 620 pence, a 20% premium to Darktrace's close in London on Thursday.
Darktrace directors will unanimously recommend the offer to shareholders, and Thoma Bravo already has commitments to accepts from shareholders representing 14.4% of the company.
On AIM, Proteome Sciences jumped 20%.
Proteome said it has secured a contract win from an unnamed US biopharmaceutical company, using the its mass spectrometry services for the analysis of samples for an on-going clinical trial.
The contract is valued at over GBP500,000.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 1.4%
Brent oil was quoted at USD88.12 a barrel early in London on Friday, up from USD86.48 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted at USD2,345.60 an ounce, higher against USD2,331.32.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
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