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(AWP Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly higher on Friday, ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's eagerly-anticipated Jackson Hole speech, while stocks in Asia and New York climbed overnight as Nvidia boosted sentiment.
Quintex Intel analyst Stephen Innes commented: "For several weeks, investors had been circling the same uncomfortable questions. Was the AI boom becoming an enormous construction project with no tenants? Were companies spending billions on computing capacity simply because they feared being left behind? And if the machines were becoming more intelligent by the month, what would happen to the software companies whose business models appeared to be standing directly in their path? Then Jensen Huang walked in with a forecast large enough to drown out the funeral music."
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 23.1 points higher, 0.2%, at 10,815.64 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed down 85.58 points, 0.8%, at 10,792.54. The large-cap index has lost 0.2% so far this week.
The pound bought USD1.3588, where it stood at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, it was flat at EUR1.1664 against EUR1.1663.
The euro fell to USD1.1644 from USD1.1650. Against the yen, the buck rose to JPY159.55 from JPY159.31.
Commerzbank analyst Volkmar Baur commented: "After the setback at the end of last week, the US dollar stabilized this week and managed to appreciate slightly against the euro as well as most other currencies. Today, however, brings the next test: Kevin Warsh's speech in Jackson Hole.
"Of course, there are many directions his speech could take, but I think he won't be able to avoid saying a few words about the current situation. Of course, he'll talk about how inflation is currently too high and that the Fed will do everything it can to bring inflation back to its target level."
In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite, turbocharged by an 8.7% surge for Nvidia, rose 1.6%.
A barrel of Brent fell to USD88.27 on Friday, from USD88.67 late Thursday afternoon. Gold traded at USD4,583.51 an ounce, fading from USD4,597.90.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will step up efforts to isolate Iran economically as he hosts G20 counterparts next week, a US official said Thursday, in a gathering clouded by war and trade tensions.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the group of 20 major economies are due to convene in mountainous Asheville, North Carolina, next Monday and Tuesday.
Their talks are the first of several key ministerial meetings this year, setting the stage for a G20 leaders' summit US President Donald Trump will host in December in Florida.
In Asheville, US officials will stress to G20 members the importance of complying with its sanctions on Iran, as it ramps up pressure on Tehran amid war in the Middle East, a Treasury official told reporters.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.1% higher. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 0.4%, while Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5%.
Unemployment in Japan declined in July according to new data from the latest labour force survey.
The Statistics Bureau of Japan said the jobless rate fell to 2.4% in July from 2.5% in June.
The reading for July missed the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast that had expected no change from the previous month.
Friday's global economic calendar has a eurozone consumer confidence reading and the Chicago PMI in the US.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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