The FTSE 100 and European stocks were lower as traders digested the messages from the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve this week and tech stocks disappointed.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) lost 0.10% to 7,812 points at the open, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris fell 0.50% to 7,130 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) fell 0.69% to 15,402.
Disappointing earnings from Wall Street’s tech giants offset a bout of optimism over the Bank of England nearing the end of its cycle of increasing interest rates.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said yesterday’s optimism was specifically on “renewed hope we’ve reached peak inflation, which will cement central banks’ ability to pause interest rate hikes.”
British Gas owner Centrica (CNA.L) was the biggest faller after it was revealed that debt collectors working for the energy provider broke into customers’ homes to fit prepayment energy meters.
The industry regulato has asked energy companies to suspend the forced installation of prepayment meters. Ofgem also told suppliers to review the use of court warrants to enter the homes of customers in arrears.
Discount retailer B&M (BME.L) gained 1.26% and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) rose 0.87% after Deutsche Bank upgraded their stocks to “buy” from “hold”.
Read more: Interest rates: Bank of England’s Bailey warns UK inflation still stubborn
Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) slipped and was trading at around $81/barrel as markets await for signs of China’s demand recovery.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) closed higher, climbing 0.39% to 27,509 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong lost 1.56% to 21,615. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) also retreated, losing 0.68% to 3,263 points.
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Across the pond, most stocks rallied to close higher on Thursday, let by optimism around tech stocks and a surge for Facebook’s parent company, Meta (META).
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 1.47% to finish at 4,179 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) jumped 3.25% to 10,140. The Dow Jones (^DJI) was the exception, slipping 0.11US % to close at 34,053 points.
However disappointing earnings from Wall Street’s tech giants after the close are pointing to a red Friday session in Wall Street.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the red as trade began in Europe.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank noted “today will probably not be as fantastic as yesterday, as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) announced earnings after the bell yesterday, and they all disappointed.”
“So it’s not surprising that the US futures are in the red this morning, and Nasdaq futures are leading losses” she added.
Watch: Apple, Alphabet miss Wall Street expectations
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