LONDON (Alliance News) - London-listed stocks are set to open slightly higher Friday, though concerns over the situation in Greece continue to hold back European stock markets.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index to open at 7,047.3. The index closed up 0.1% at 7,040.92 on Thursday, but stocks had remained subdued for much of the session as Greece's financial troubles continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
Greece is due to make a EUR300 million payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday next week and there has been a conflict of opinions about how close a deal between Greece and its creditors is. Athens said it expects to clinch a debt deal by Sunday, but the International Monetary Fund joined Germany and the European Commission in ruling out an early end to the tortuous negotiations with Greece.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde no longer rules out Greece exiting the eurozone. "Greece's exit is a possibility," Lagarde told Germany's daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview published on the newspaper's website on Thursday.
The IMF chief said that such a move would not be easy but would "probably not mean the end of the euro."
"It is very unlikely that we will reach a comprehensive solution in the next few days," Lagarde says.
On Wall Street Thursday, the DJIA closed down 0.2%, the S&P 500 closed down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.2%.
In Asia Friday, the Japanese Nikkei is up 0.3%, the Hang Seng trades up 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite is up 1.3%.
Consumer prices in Japan increased at a slower rate in April compared to the previous month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. The consumer price index was up 0.6% on year in April, slower than the previous month's 2.3% growth. Core inflation, which strips out the volatile costs of food, advanced 0.3%, slower than the previous month's 2.2% increase. On a monthly basis, overall CPI were up 0.4% and core inflation rose 0.3%.
Japan's unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to a 18-year low in April, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said. The jobless rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.3% in April, down slightly from 3.4% in the previous month. Economists had expected the rate to remain stable at 3.4%.
In a quiet UK corporate calendar, there are full-year results from Standard Life European Private Equity Trust and Premier Veterinary Group.
In the economic calendar, the market's focus will be on US first quarter GDP at 1330 BST as investors look for more clues as to when the US Federal Reserve will lift its interest rates. Economists expect GDP to show a 0.8% decline. The Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is at 1500 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
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