(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 is called to open slightly lower on Friday, returning some of its weekly gain, after a US producer price reading hurt shares in New York overnight.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 4.3 points lower, 0.1%, at 7,738.85 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed down 29.02 points, 0.4%, at 7,743.15 on Thursday. It is up 1.1% so far this week, however.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3%, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended 0.6% lower. The Shanghai Composite in China was 0.2% higher in late dealings, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong plunged 2.0%.

The pound was quoted at USD1.2739, largely unmoved from USD1.2737. The euro faded to USD1.0877 from USD1.0887, while against the yen, the dollar bought JPY148.30, up from JPY148.25.

In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each fell 0.3%.

"Stocks retreated from their record highs as investors digested a 'mixed bag' of economic reports. Treasury yields climbed in response to data indicating inflation was significantly higher than anticipated, triggering unease among investors in the bullish capital market. However, there remains optimism for potential rate cuts in June, as additional data hinted at a possible softening in consumer spending, which could alleviate some of the mounting price pressures," SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented.

Numbers on Thursday showed US producer prices by 1.6% on-year in February, ahead of a forecast 1.1% climb. In January, prices had risen by 1.0% on-year.

Retail sales rose by 0.6% in February from January. They had been expected to rise by 0.8%, according to FXStreet, having fallen by 1.1% in January from December.

The US Department of Labor also released its initial weekly jobs report on Thursday.

In the week ending March 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 209,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised total. The previous week's level was revised down by 7,000 from 217,000.

This was lower than market consensus for initial jobless claims to rise to 218,000.

Innes added: "Overall, Thursday's data presents a mixed picture. While the warm PPI prints suggest that the disinflation process has stalled, the tepid reading on nominal consumption could offset these concerns in the context of the Fed's narrative. If spending trends towards a reversal, it could mitigate some of the inflationary pressures indicated by the PPI data."

Gold was quoted at USD2,167.93 an ounce early Friday, from USD2,154.76 at the time of the London equities close Thursday. Brent oil fetched at USD85.22 a barrel, up from USD84.91. This time last week, the North Sea benchmark traded at USD83.48.

Friday's local corporate calendar has a trading statement from housebuilder Berkeley Group.

On the economic calendar, there are US import and export prices at 1230 GMT.

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

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