(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Friday, ahead of a GDP print from the eurozone, and unemployment data from the US.

 

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 17.8 points, or 0.2%, lower at 8,234.50. The index of London large-caps closed down 27.89 points, 0.3%, at 8,241.71 on Thursday.

 

Sterling was quoted at USD1.1114 early Friday, higher than USD1.1082 at the London equities close on Thursday.

 

The euro traded at USD1.1114 early Friday, higher than USD1.1082 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY142.98, lower versus JPY143.94.

 

In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended mainly lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5%, the S&P 500 down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.

 

Republican White House candidate Donald Trump unveiled a plan Thursday to install tech billionaire Elon Musk at the head of a government efficiency commission to eliminate "trillions" of dollars in wasteful spending.

 

Trump told business executives at a speech in New York that Musk – the world's richest man, according to Forbes – would oversee a "complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government" in a second Trump administration.

 

"As the first order of business, this commission will develop an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months. This will save trillions of dollars," he said.

 

Trump – whose administration oversaw an USD8.2 trillion rise in the national debt, almost twice as much as President Joe Biden's – has not publicly identified any of the savings and experts are sceptical about the size of the savings.

 

In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.

 

Gold was quoted at USD2,518.23 an ounce early Friday, higher than USD2,505.80 on Thursday.

 

Brent oil was trading at USD72.64 a barrel early Friday, lower than USD73.01 late Thursday.

 

In Friday's corporate calendar, there is a trading statement from Berkeley Group Holdings.

 

In the economic calendar on Friday, there is plenty of data from Europe, including GDP and unemployment from the eurozone. Later in the day, there is average weekly hours and unemployment from the US.

 

By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter

 

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

 

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