London pre-open: Stocks seen up after BoE, Fed decisions
London stocks were set to rise at the open on Friday at the end of a busy week, as investors mulled rate cuts by the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve.
The FTSE 100 was called to open around 20 points higher.
Both the BoE and the Fed cut interest rates on Thursday by 25 basis points, as expected.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the accompanying statement from the Fed did not give too much new information.
"The Fed sees economic activity expanding at a solid pace, they see the unemployment rate as remaining low and inflation remaining ‘somewhat’ elevated but making progress towards the Fed’s 2% target rate," she said.
"The Fed has said that it remains data dependent and will continue to ‘monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook’. The elephant in the room is obviously the election of President Trump. Many of Trump’s economic proposals could have big implications if passed into law, not least tariffs. This line in the statement suggests that the Fed is ready to adjust policy if Trump’s new economic order of tariffs and low taxes boosts inflation."
In UK corporate news, BA and Iberia owner IAG posted a 7.9% rise in total revenues for the third quarter, for a 15.4% jump in operating profit to €2.01bn.
Company management described the carrier's financial performance during the quarter as "very strong", highlighting its "significant" free cash flow generation and guiding towards a "strong" performance for the remainder of the year. IAG also announced a €350m share buyback programme.
Property portal Rightmove lifted its forecast for full-year average revenue per advertiser (ARPA) growth as it said it was "looking ahead with confidence".
It now expects ARPA growth of £85m to £95m for the year, up from previous guidance of £75m to £85m.