FTSE stable at open

London (AFP) – London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was unchanged at the start of trade on Friday at 6,659.19 points, following modest gains in global markets.

In other markets, US stocks Thursday ended higher, shrugging off some disappointing retail sales and jobless claims data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 63.65 points (0.40 percent) to 16,027.59.

Tokyo stocks gained 0.62 percent in opening trade Friday with the Nikkei-225 index rising 90.05 points to 14,624.79 in the first five minutes.

Meanwhile in the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 firmed 0.19 percent to 9,615.52 points and in the Paris CAC 40 added 0.16 percent to 4,319.60 compared with Thursday’s closing values.