(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening lower on Friday sparked by heavy losses in the US on Thursday, as investors look ahead to the US jobs report later in the day.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 33.26 points lower at 5,817.60. The blue-chip index closed down 90.09 points, or 1.5%, at 5,850.86 on Thursday.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended firmly in the red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.8%, S&P 500 down 3.5% and Nasdaq Composite closing down 5.0%.
All three main indices in New York suffered hefty selling, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way with tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook among the worst hit.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index is down 1.2% in late trade on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 1.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 1.6%.
"Equity markets in Asia are in the red as the massive declines in the US dented sentiment. European markets are tipped to open lower, and US index futures point to further losses," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
Investor focus is now on the release on Friday at 1330 BST of US jobs data, which will provide the latest snapshot of the world's largest economy.
US nonfarm payrolls are forecast to rise 1.4 million in August, down from 1.8 million in July. The unemployment rate is predicted to drop to 9.8% in August from 10.2% in July.
The pound was USD1.3273 early Friday, flat from USD1.3272 at the London equities close Thursday.
UK ministers are under fire from holidaymakers and the travel industry for failing to provide "clarity" after Portugal and Greece retained their places on England's coronavirus quarantine exemption list. Wales and Scotland have added restrictions to passengers returning from the summer holiday hotspots, but the UK government said on Thursday there would be no change to its list.
The euro stood at USD1.1846, up from USD1.1825. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY106.19, flat from JPY106.17.
Gold was quoted at USD1,933.66 an ounce Friday morning, up from USD1,926.09 an ounce at the London equities close Thursday. Brent oil was quoted at USD43.69 a barrel, up from USD43.42.
The UK corporate calendar for Friday has half-year results from property assets manager Capital & Regional.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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