Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG said:

Athleisure brand Lululemon reported revenue of $2.37bn in the second quarter, which missed a Zacks Equity Research consensus estimate of $2.4bn.

However, the brand delivered earnings per share of $3.15, which Zacks said was a surprise increase of nearly 8%, compared to a consensus estimate of $2.92.

Meghan Frank, chief financial officer at Lululemon Athletica, said: "Earnings per share exceeded our expectations in the second quarter, driven by better-than-expected gross margin expansion and disciplined execution."

Lululemon also lowered its full-year guidance on net revenue to between $10.4bn and $10.5bn, down from the $10.7bn and $10.8bn mentioned in its first quarter results.

Shares climbed 4% in pre-market trading before dipping after the open.

Shares in Dollar General plunged 32% on Thursday, after the discount retailer slashed its full-year guidance, pointing to "cash-strapped" core customers.

Dollar General said it expected net sales growth of between 4.7% and 5.3% for its 2024 fiscal year, down from previous expectations of 6% and 6.7%.

"It appears to us very strongly that ... this lower-end consumer continues to be very much financially strapped, especially as it relates to her ability to feed her family and support her family," CEO Todd Vasos told analysts during the company's earnings call on Thursday morning.

The retailer said operating profit had also fallen 20.6% to $550m for the second quarter.

Peter Keith, managing director at Piper Sandler, told Yahoo Finance's Market Domination on Thursday that Walmart (WMT) was a problem for Dollar General, saying that it's a "giant vacuum cleaner sucking up a lot of market share," citing its digital strategy as part of the reason.

Read the full wrap on today's housing data

Eurozone inflation dropped to 2.2% in August, its lowest level since mid-2021, closing in on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2% target.

This decline in inflation across the 20 EU countries using the euro fuelled expectations that the ECB may opt for a second interest rate cut this year, as concerns grow over the faltering economic recovery in the region.

Consumer prices in the eurozone were 2.2% higher in August compared to the same period last year, down from 2.6% in July, according to data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency.

This marks the lowest inflation rate since July 2021. A 3% drop in energy prices significantly contributed to the overall decline, with inflation in Germany—the eurozone’s largest economy—falling to 2%.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, eased to 2.8% from 2.9% a month earlier, in line with expectations, as muted imported goods prices offset a rise in services inflation to 4.2% from 4%.

READ MORE: Eurozone inflation drops to 2.2%

Shares in Dell Technology are up 3% in pre-market trading after the computer company reported earnings on Thursday that beat estimates for its second quarter.

Dell (DELL) posted revenues of $25.03bn (£18.99bn), compared to estimates of $24.12bn, while adjusted earnings came in at $1.89 per share against an estimate of $1.71.

The company reported an 80% jump in server and networking revenue year-on-year to a record $7.7bn, citing growing demand across its artificial intelligence (AI) and traditional servers, which includes those powered by Nvidia (NVDA) chips.

Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer at Dell Technologies, said: "Our AI momentum accelerated in Q2, and we’ve seen an increase in the number of enterprise customers buying AI solutions each quarter."

Dell raised its annual revenue outlook to between $95.5bn and $98.5bn, up from previous guidance of between $93.5bn and $97.5bn.

READ MORE: Trending tickers: The latest investor updates on Dell, Lululemon, Dollar General and Ulta Beauty

As with all the other data this morning, HMRC transaction data shows increasing activity in the market.

It says:

Another catalyst for the housing market, according to the Bank of England's consumer credit data released this morning:

• Net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 62,000 in July, the highest since September 2022 (65,100), and up from 60,600 in June. By contrast, approvals for remortgaging fell to 25,100 in July, from 27,300 over the same period.

And here's director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr's take:

CEO of Yopa, Verona Frankish said:

Already out this morning from my colleague Pedro Goncalves:

UK house prices rose at the fastest pace since December 2022 and are set to climb even higher if the Bank of England cuts interest rates again before the end of the year, as widely expected by markets.

Annual growth rate picked up to 2.4%, from 2.1% in July, Nationwide said. However, on a monthly basis its figures showed a 0.2% dip in prices, which it said was a result of “seasonal factors”. That meant the average price of a UK home was £265,375, some £950 lower than the previous month.

Values were still around 3% lower than the record highs recorded in the summer of 2022, at the end of the pandemic property boom.

Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner said the housing market remained subdued but was coping with the increase in interest rates.

“While house price growth and activity remain subdued by historic standards, they nevertheless present a picture of resilience in the context of the higher interest rate environment and where house prices remain high relative to average earnings (which makes raising a deposit more challenging),” he said.

Asian stocks headed higher on Friday, shaking off the Nvidia-induced gloom elsewhere. The Nikkei 225 (^N225) in Japan bounded 0.7% higher in the session while Hong Kong's Hang Seng (^HSI) closed up 1.6% rounding out its best month since May.

In Hong Kong, investors piled into electric vehicle stocks following a recent selloff — companies such as Li Auto, Xpeng and BYD got a boost.

From our US colleagues:

The Dow closed at another record on Thursday — its third this week — while the other major averages finished the day lower as investors assessed Nvidia's (NVDA) earnings alongside data that showed the US economy grew more than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained more than 200 points to finish the session at a new all-time high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) erased earlier gains to drop about 0.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed flat on the heels of losses for all three gauges.

Stocks wavered amid Wall Street's lacklustre reception for the numbers from Nvidia, whose stellar growth streak has underpinned the market's rally this year.

While the AI chipmaker's quarterly profit and revenue guidance topped estimates, the size of the beats fell short of high-running hopes. That started to stir questions as to whether the AI boom has peaked. Wall Street remained bullish on the stock, but shares still ended the day down around 6%.

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here ready to bring you the markets news of the day. We've already had house price data — later we've got the Bank of England's credit report. Let's get to it.