Equities weaker at the end of a positive week

Stocks are edging to the downside as Friday’s session draws to a close in London, as some bullish momentum fades into the weekend, says Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.

Stocks mixed but on track for weekly gains

“Despite the best efforts of various parties, the monthly PCE index never seems to quite generate the excitement of the CPI reading, despite the former being the Fed’s preferred measure. Thus today’s data passed largely without much notice, but then with three big central bank meetings, a payrolls report and major tech earnings next week the market has much bigger fish to fry. Stocks have managed to notch up a decent performance for the week, shrugging ff Microsoft’s earnings, and it is now up to the FANGs to provide fresh bullish momentum.”

Dollar pushes higher

“Given the decline in the greenback this month, it may well be that markets are being too dovish in their expectations for next week’s Fed decision. While the 25bps hike is more or less nailed on, it is the commentary around it that provides the potential to trip up the unwary. Risk assets have done well so far this month, but next week’s action-packed timetable poses a significant hurdle to short-term gains.”