Stocks open higher following gains in the US

The FTSE 100 began Thursday's trading day marginally higher as advances in tech companies propelled US markets to fresh all-time highs.

Wall Street saw the S&P 500 reach a new intraday high of 0.8%, bringing it very close to the 5,000 level. The recent surge was bolstered by advances in technology stocks including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta.

Over in Asia, Chinese equities fell on Thursday, behind their international counterparts as the recent recovery surge seemed to be fizzling out. Additionally significant were weak inflation figures and losses in the internet behemoth Alibaba.

Data released on Thursday revealed that, in Asia, Chinese consumer prices plummeted in January at the fastest rate in over 14 years, despite the nation's policymakers' best efforts to boost consumer confidence in the second-largest economy in the world.

The numbers will support the need for a stimulus package to boost the economy.

In Japan, technology stocks drove the majority of the Nikkei's gains, with investment giant SoftBank driving most of the gains with a roughly 10% increase.

Once again, the early focus will be on earnings from many FTSE 100 companies: Compass, BAT, AstraZeneca, Unilever, and Anglo American will offer updates.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com, proactiveinvestors.co.uk)