news/GOOGL/2023.02.03/FTSE called down as tech earnings disappoint.txt

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Friday, following a week of crucial interest rate decisions which largely sprung no surprises. IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open down 3.96 points, 0.1%, at 7,816.2 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 59.05 points, or 0.8% at 7,820.16 on Thursday. The Bank of England on Thursday, lifted interest rates by another 50 points. The rate lift takes the benchmark bank rate to 4.00% from 3.50%. It was an outcome expected by the market, according to consensus cited by FXStreet.The BoE said seven of the policy setting Monetary Policy Committee backed the move. Swati Dhingra and Silvana Tenryro opposed the hike, preferring bank rate to be maintained at 3.50%. The European Central Bank, meanwhile, also raised interest rates in the eurozone by 50 basis points, in line with market expectations, however it also pencilled in another increase in March.The US Federal Reserve lifted interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, as widely expected, and signalled that it was not done raising rates.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2220 early Friday, lower than USD1.2276 at the London equities close on Thursday.The euro traded at USD1.0896 early Friday, lower than USD1.0927 late Thursday. Prior to the ECB announcement, however, the euro was trading at USD1.0985 and brushed the USD1.10 mark earlier on Thursday.Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY128.63, higher versus JPY128.40."Today's European open looks set to see a modestly softer open after some weakness in the wake of last night's earnings numbers from Amazon, Alphabet and Apple," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented.Amazon said it swung to annual loss as it booked a significant hit related to its investment in electric vehicle firm Rivian. Apple, meanwhile, posted a drop in quarterly sales and income due to a challenging operating environment.Google owner Alphabet posted a small climb in fourth quarter revenue but noted a sharp year-on-year decline in net income.Amazon lost 5.1% after hours in New York, Alphabet gave back 4.6% and Apple shed 3.2%. In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended mostly higher on Thursday, as investors digested the new interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.1%, but the S&P 500 was up 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 3.3%.In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.7% and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.6%.China's service sector return to growth in January, according to new data.The Caixin services purchasing managers' index rose to 52.9 in January from 48.0 in December. Returning above the 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction, it shows activity in the sector has recovered from its recent downturn. "Both services supply and demand moved into expansion. Although Covid infections remained high, an easing of related containment measures stimulated supply and demand in the sector. The gauges for business activity and total new business both came in above 50, marking an end to a four-month contraction," said Caixin analyst Wang Zhe.Gold was quoted at USD1,915.71 an ounce early Friday, lower than USD1,920.03 on Thursday. Brent oil was trading at USD82.08 a barrel early Friday, higher than USD81.95 late Thursday.In the economic calendar on Friday, there are a slew of services PMI readings from the UK, US, EU, and Germany.By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporterComments and questions to [email protected] 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.