(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open marginally higher on Friday as risk sentiment tentatively improved following a difficult week for markets.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open just 2.75 points higher on Friday at 7,604.60. The index of London large-caps closed up 8.63 points, or 0.1%, at 7,601.85 on Thursday.

"As we come to the end of the week, month, and quarter it's not been a great quarter for equity markets. There's been a significant shift in sentiment over the summer as economic data has deteriorated and expectations around how long interest rates are likely to stay high have shifted well into 2024," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

"Today's economic data is likely to feed into some of this narrative even if a lot of it is quite backward looking like the final revisions for UK Q2 GDP which will show a UK economy that is in a much better place than was thought to be the case at the time," Hewson continued.

Revised UK GDP figures will be released at 0700 BST. There is also an EU inflation print at 1000 BST and US personal consumption expenditures data at 1330 BST.

The numbers could go some way to tempering expectations about further rate hikes.

In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.4%.

Japan's unemployment rate and industrial production both remained stable month-on-month in August, according to data on Friday.

The unemployment rate in August remained stable at 2.7%, the Statistics Bureau of Japan reported. Markets had expected the rate to dip slightly to 2.6%, according to FXStreet-cited consensus.

Separately, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry showed industrial production was stable month-on-month in August, after declining 1.8% in July.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was closed for trading due to the Mid-Autumn festival, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.5%.

In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2221 early Friday, up from USD1.2209 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at USD1.0579, higher than USD1.0568. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY149.34, virtually flat against JPY149.36.

Gold was quoted at USD1,865.04 an ounce early Friday, up from USD1,861.02 at the London equities close on Thursday. Brent oil was trading at USD92.88 a barrel, lower against USD94.09.

In Friday's corporate calendar, there are half-year results from Frenkel Topping, Distribution Finance Capital and Likewise Group.

By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter

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