FTSE 100 closes down on Friday while Wall Street shares muted

12pm EST/ 5pm: Footsie closes in red FTSE 100 index closed in the red on Friday after a lacklustre session and ahead of the bank holiday weekend. The UK index of leading shares closed the day down over 36 points, or 0.61%, at 5,963. Over the week, Footsie fell around 0.63%. "This morning there was some excitement as Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, announced he was stepping down for health reasons," noted David Madden, at CMC Markets. "The surprise announcement made a lot of headlines, but it didn’t have a huge impact on stocks in Europe. Things have been a little directionless today, partially because there has been a lack of local news, but it is likely that UK-based traders are winding down ahead of the long weekend." Top footsie laggard was beleaguered aerospace engineer Rolls Royce, which shed 3.28% to 241.80p. It follows the announcement yesterday that revenues in the six months to June had fallen by 26% to £5.8bn, while the group's £5.4bn record loss had included a £2.6bn foreign exchange loss, £1.1bn from impairments and £366mln of restructuring charges. Rolls is looking to raise £2billion by selling parts of its business as it struggles to get through the pandemic. US and Canada 4.30pm/11.30am EST Wall Street benchmarks were in the green in early deals on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 89 points at 28,581. The broader-based S&P 500 index added around ten points at 3,494. The tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange added over 71 points at 11,697. In Toronto, the TSX was in the red, having shed over 33 points at 16,697. 3.15pm/10.15am EST: Proactive North America headlines: Golden Arrow Resources Corp (CVE:GRG) kicks off drilling at Tierra Dorada gold project in Paraguay to define targets Matinas BipPharma Holdings Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:MTNB) secures enrollment for MAT9001 head-to-head trial versus Vascepa Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc (CVE:AQS) (OTCQB:AQSZF) posts second-highest quarterly revenue as demand grows for opthalmic and transplant products Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (TSX:TBD) (OTCQB:TBPMF) maps out CBD metabolites in humans who vaped QIXLEEF therapeutic Aftermath Silver Ltd (CVE:AAG) (OTCQB:AAGFF)  upsizes previously announced placing to C$15.6M Thoughtful Brands Inc (CSE:TBI) (OTCQB:PEMTF) (FWB:1WZ1) launches a new e-Commerce subsidiary Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) says its intellectual property worth $412M following third-party evaluation Bragg Gaming (CVE:BRAG) (OTC:BRGGF)  turns a profit, doubles revenue in 2Q results as global customer base grows Champignon Brands Inc (CSE:SHRM) (OTCQB:SHRMF) to offer esketamine for depression at Ontario clinic Benchmark Metals Inc (CVE:BNCH) (OTCQB:CYRTF) makes new discovery at Marmot zone as it drills new targets at Lawyers gold and silver project in Canada 9.40am: Positive start As expected, the markets in New York have made a positive start to the final session of the week as traders maintained positivity arising from Fed chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Thursday which indicated an easing of monetary policy from the central bank. In the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.06% higher at 28,508 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.25% to 3,493 and the Nasdaq rose 0.48% to 11,680. Markets seemed to have shrugged off a slowdown in US consumer spending in July, which could cause the economic recovery to lose some steam, while personal incomes rose 0.4% in the month as the US government kept paying businesses to keep employees on the payroll. The positive start for the Dow also means the index has effectively erased all of its losses for the year-to-date following its plunge in March. 7.45am: Wall Street to head higher Wall Street seems keen to get the party started following yesterday’s speech from Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, with the main three US indices tipped to open in positive territory. Spread betting quotes suggest the Dow Jones will open 145 points firmer at 28,637 while the S&P 500 is tipped to start 15 points higher at just below the 3,500 level and the Nasdaq is expected to rise 37 points to around 11,970. However, all of that may change when the US personal income and expenditure numbers for July are released. The former is expected to ease by -0.2% and the latter to rise by 1.5%. Economists are expecting the core personal consumer expenditures price index to rise 1.2%. “Today's monthly private consumption data for July are going to be very interesting. Retail sales grew again in July (despite high-frequency indicators suggesting otherwise) but it may be the case that consumers substituted away from services into goods,” commented Danske Bank. Later in the day, we will have the Chicago purchasing managers’ index for August, which is expected to be around the 52 level, and the final reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, where economists have penciled in a number of 72.8. Four things to watch for on Friday: More speeches from central bankers at this year’s virtual Jackson Hole conference, with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey one of the key speakers on Friday US personal income data for July will provide insight into how much US households are bringing in. Incomes fell 1.1% in June so the latest figure may show the effects of a winding down of federal support benefits for Americans American consumer spending data for July which will show how much US households are spending, potentially a barometer for the prospects of the country’s economic recovery. The June figure saw a 5.6% rise month-on-month, so market will likely hope this trend has continued or accelerated Share price reaction for computer maker Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL) after the company beat earnings estimates in its second quarter results, released after the close on Thursday