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Despite a feeble start to equities trading on the final day of March, the FTSE 100 stands poised to end the first quarter of 2023 in the green.
The large-cap index opened up 1.21 points at 7,621.64 on Friday. The FTSE 250 was down 35.99 points, 0.2% at 18,871.75. The AIM All-Share was down 0.3% at 803.85.
The Cboe UK 100 was marginally higher at 762.09, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 16,471.34, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 13,294.21.
The FTSE 100 is up 0.9% in the year-to-date, though the mid-cap FTSE 250 is down 1.4% and the AIM All-Share down 4.2%.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%.
Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar, there is a eurozone inflation reading at 1000 BST. Annual inflation is expected to slow sharply to 7.1% in March from 8.5% in February
Wall Street ended higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.7%.
The pound was slightly stronger in early exchanges. Sterling was quoted at $1.2385 early Friday, higher than $1.2371 at the London equities close on Thursday.
The euro traded at $1.0894, down slightly from $1.0900. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JP¥132.99, up versus JP¥132.69.
Final figures confirmed the UK economy registered marginal growth in the final quarter of 2022. According to an estimate from the Office for National Statistics, gross domestic product in the fourth quarter grew 0.1% from the third quarter, which was revised up from an initial estimate of no growth.
This follows a contraction of 0.1% seen in the third quarter, which was revised from a 0.2% decline. This means the UK avoided a technical recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
‘As growth goes it‘