LONDON MARKET EARLY CALL: Lower call as China data spur falls in Asia

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to end a broadly upbeat week, and month, on a sour ...

Alliance News 30 April, 2021 | 6:00AM
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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to end a broadly upbeat week, and month, on a sour note following some weak economic data for China.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 23.68 points lower, or 0.3%, at 6,937.80 on Friday. The FTSE 100 closed down 2.19 points at 6,961.48 on Thursday, at this level up 0.3% since the week began and 3.7% higher since the start of April.

London's downbeat finish to the week comes despite stocks in the US closing higher on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.

Amazon.com shares rose 2.4% after-hours. The online retailer said profit more than tripled in the first quarter of 2021, driven by double-digit growth in sales from all regions. Amazon posted net income of USD8.11 billion, up sharply from USD2.54 billion the prior year, while earnings per share also more than tripled to USD15.79 from USD5.0.

"Despite this decent finish for US stocks, today's European open looks set to be a negative one as we come to the end of the week and the month, as Asia markets slipped lower in the wake of some rather mixed Chinese PMI numbers, which saw manufacturing and services activity both weaken more than expected in April," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

Factory activity in China slowed in April as a global shortage of shipping containers hindered the movement of goods, official data showed Friday, but wider demand remained robust as the domestic economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic.

The purchasing managers' index, a key gauge of manufacturing activity, came in at 51.1 points this month, lower than in March but still above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

But challenges remained, with some companies reporting problems "such as chip shortages, blockages in international logistics, a lack of containers, and rising freight rates", said NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe in a statement.

The non-manufacturing PMI fell to 54.9 points, down from 56.3 in March, with activity in the construction sector easing, although the service industry continued its recovery.

In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 1.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.8%.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was down 1.0% on Friday, and the Japanese Nikkei 225 index was down 0.9% as it reopened from Thursday's holiday.

Against the yen, the dollar fell to JPY108.83 on Friday versus JPY108.94 late Thursday. The au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 53.6 points in April from 52.7 in March, supported by a solid expansion in production volumes.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.3940 early Friday, soft on USD1.3950 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at USD1.2116 early Friday, easing from USD1.2120 late Thursday.

Gold was quoted at USD1,768.98 an ounce early Friday, slightly up on USD1,768.68 on Thursday. Brent oil was trading at USD68.08 a barrel, edging down from USD68.35 late Thursday.

The economic events calendar on Friday has the UK Nationwide house price index at 0700 BST and eurozone economic growth figures at 1000 BST.

The UK corporate calendar on Friday has first-quarter results from Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca and lender Barclays.

By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com

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Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
Amazon.com Inc 174.49 USD -2.64

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