Proactive Investors - The FTSE 100 is expected open lower on Thursday extending yesterday’s falls after the Federal Reserve minutes signalled further interest rate rises were on the way.
Spread betting companies are calling London’s blue-chip index down by around 38 points. The index of London large-caps closed down 77.62 points, or 1.0% at 7,442.10 on Wednesday
Minutes from the June’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed officials believe further tightening is required to stamp out inflation in the world's largest economy.
"Almost all participants noted that in their economic projections that they judged that additional increases in the target federal funds rate during 2023 would be appropriate," the minutes said.
Although inflation figures are due before the next rate call, Paul Ashworth at Capital Economics thinks "barring an unexpected collapse, the odds strongly favour another 25bp rate hike this month."
Ipek Ozkardeskaya Swissquote Bank felt the minutes “were more hawkish than expected.”
US markets closed lower with the Dow down 0.4% and the S&P and Nasdaq 0.2% lower. The downbeat mood spread to Asia where markets also eased. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 3.0%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 1.7%.
Back in London, and updates are expected from Currys, Ferrexpo (LON:FXPO), Robert Walters and Victrex (LON:VCTX).