Proactive Investors - The FTSE 100 is expected to start on the back foot on Friday after strong US inflation figures put a US rate hike back on the table, and after weak trade data from China.
Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index down by around 13 points after closing up 24.75 points at 7,644.78 on Thursday.
In the US on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both shed 0.6% after the US yearly inflation rate was unmoved at 3.7%.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) said the firmer than expected figures were "a reminder that the path to 2% inflation is unlikely to be smooth sailing and the Fed must continue to err on the side of doing too much rather than too little."
It retained its call for a 25 basis point rate hike in November. "The Fed is still data-dependent and today’s CPI release coupled with last week’s employment report very much support a hike in November, in our view. That said, recent commentary from Fed speakers has leaned in the direction of a pause."
In China, inflation was flat, while the producer price index fell 2.5%, according to official data released Friday.
Trade figures showed exports fell 6.2% annually in September, better than the 8.3% fall expected while imports declined 6.2% from the year before, slightly worse than estimates of 6.0%.
Back in London, and results from Ashmore will be the early focus while in the US results are due from banking giants, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Citi.