LONDON MARKET EARLY CALL: FTSE 100 to rise ahead of PMI readings

Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, as investors continue to weigh Thursday's weaker-than-expected US jobs report ahead of a swathe of composite PMI readings. IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 22.7 points, 0.2%, at 10,675.57 on Friday. The index of London large-caps closed up 174.53 points, 1.7%, at 10,652.87 on Thursday. Sterling was at USD1.3368 on Friday morning, flat from USD1.3367 at the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR1.1668 from EUR1.1681. The euro was slightly higher at USD1.1452 from USD1.1449. Against the yen, the dollar was up at JPY161.13 from JPY160.87. US President Donald Trump said it is "ridiculous" for the US to continue its "one sided" relationship to Nato, less than a week before a Nato summit in Ankara. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "They were not there for us!!!" and Washington's relationship with Nato "is not reciprocal." Trump has repeatedly lashed out at European allies over their response to the war in Iran. Brent crude was trading higher at USD72.33 a barrel on Friday morning from USD70.76 on Thursday. Investors were weighing Thursday's US jobs report, which was weaker than expected. US nonfarm payrolls increased by just 57,000 in June, well below the FXStreet-cited consensus of 110,000, while the prior two months were revised down by a combined 74,000 jobs. "Overall, the data looked soft enough to encourage the market to trim Federal Reserve rate hike expectations for this year. The market still expects the Fed to hike once this year—with a little more than a 50% chance of that happening as early as September," said Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. "Overall, the latest weakness in US jobs data and softer inflation expectations may reset Fed expectations to a slightly less hawkish stance. But it will ultimately be up to the inflation data to determine whether that shift continues. As such, we could see the US dollar consolidate its latest gains, with limited upside for gold and major currencies in the coming days." In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.1%, while the S&P 500 ended flat and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.8%. Financial markets in the US are closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 1.3%. Japan's service sector business activity returned to growth in June with firms benefitting from an increase in new business despite ongoing inflationary pressures, S&P Global reported. The S&P Global Japan composite purchasing managers' index rose to 52.8 points in June from 51.1 points in May, surpassing the previously released flash reading of 52.5 points. The services PMI rose to 52.2 points in June from 50.0 points May, beating the flash reading of 51.8 points. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.7% higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 1.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney advanced 1.4%. Gold was higher at USD4,171.67 an ounce early on Friday from USD4,124.43 late Thursday. Friday's global economic calendar has a slew of composite PMI reports and industrial production data in France. There are no significant events scheduled in Friday's local corporate calendar.