London’s blue-chip index is set to open lower on Thursday, with futures pointing to a decline of around 26 points at the start of trading.
The FTSE 100 closed Wednesday’s session at 10,461.63, having recovered from an early negative start to finish up almost 33 points on the day.
Global markets are presenting a mixed picture, with Germany’s DAX and US futures for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both expected to open positively despite the cautious mood in London.
Wall Street saw a subdued overnight session, with the Nasdaq falling 0.4% for its third consecutive losing session, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend, managing a 0.4% gain as investors rotated away from technology stocks during regular trading hours.
However, sentiment shifted dramatically after the close, with Nasdaq futures surging 2% following blockbuster earnings results from memory chip maker Micron (MU).
Micron shares rocketed 15.8% in after-hours trading, with chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra crediting the performance to the growing importance of its products in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Mehrotra said the “record fiscal Q3 financial results and even stronger outlook for Q4 reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era,” signalling continued momentum heading into the next quarter.
The results rippled across Asian markets overnight, with Japan’s Nikkei surging 4.6% and South Korea’s Kospi jumping 5.9%, while Chinese benchmarks moved in the opposite direction and remained in negative territory.
Swissquote market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya noted that Micron had “comfortably beat Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines,” with guidance for the current quarter also landing well above forecasts.
Ozkardeskaya suggested the earnings “will likely give a sugar boost to tired tech runners,” though she urged caution by adding that investors should not “uncork the champagne just yet.”
Her warning centres on the risk that attention will “rapidly shift to US economic data that could reverse the positive mood,” with GDP and PCE inflation figures due to be released later on Thursday.
UK investors will also be watching for the CBI distributive trades survey, which will round off a busy week of data covering the domestic retail sector.