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With investor eyes fixed nervously on a trio of central bank interest rate decision next week, the FTSE 100 closed in the red on Thursday despite a strong performance from mining stocks.
The US Federal Reserve will announce its next interest rate decision on Wednesday next week, a day before the Bank of England and the European Central Bank reveal their own respective decisions.
‘Financial markets are currently expecting (or at least hoping for) a slowdown in the rate of increases leading to a pause and peak in the first half of 2023, with the first rate cuts coming in late 2023 or early 2024,’ explained Danni Hewson at AJ Bell.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 17.02 points, or 0.2%, at 7,472.17. The FTSE 250 ended down 106.56 points, or 0.6%, at 18,824.01, and the AIM All-Share closed down just 0.12 of a point at 834.41.
The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 748.17, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.8% at 16,261.64, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.4% at 13088.49.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended just 3.37 points higher.
The dollar was weaker at the London equities close on Thursday, ahead of the trio of central banking announcements next week.
The pound was quoted at $1.2218 at the London equities close on Thursday, up compared to $1.2194 at the close on Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.0547, higher against $1.0506 on Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥135.56, lower compared to JP¥136.56 late Wednesday.
‘While we still believe the fundamental outlook favours the dollar, we acknowledge that near-term dollar weakness is likely to persist after Powell‘