Hot Features
Premium
Trade smarter, not harder: Unleash your inner pro with our toolkit and live discussions.
London open: Stocks edge up ahead of US CPI, Fed minutes
London stocks edged cautiously higher in early trade on Wednesday as investors eyed a key US inflation reading and the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,805.72.
The consumer price index for March is due at 1330 BST, while the minutes are scheduled for release at 1900 BST.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: “The week now gets into full swing with the release of the consumer price index later today. Estimates vary on the outcome of a release which will give the Federal Reserve further food for thought. The general expectation is that the CPI will have increased by 0.2% in March, as compared to a gain of 0.4% in February, but the core inflation number – which excludes energy and food prices – is estimated to have risen by 0.4%, and by 5.6% year-on-year.
“Indeed, while it is clear that there is some cooling of the headline inflation number, attention is likely to turn to some of the underlying measures which have so far proved more difficult to budge, such as clothing, insurance and furnishings in addition to volatile energy and food levels.”
Hunter said more clues on the Fed’s thoughts will be given with the release of the minutes from its latest meeting later.
“There is likely to be reference to the recent banking turmoil, although comments from one Fed member have already suggested that there are no signs yet of business or consumer spending being influenced by tighter lending conditions,” he said.
On home shores, the latest data from Rightmove showed that home sales in March rebounded close to pre-Covid pandemic levels, driven by demand for flats and a recovery from the market slump last September caused by the disastrous mini-budget of former prime minister Liz Truss.
A survey by the property website showed the number of sales agreed between sellers and buyers was just 1% lower than March 2019 as loan costs fell after Truss’s £44bn plan of unfunded tax cuts caused market turmoil and saw thousands of mortgages pulled by lenders.
“The market is remaining surprisingly robust given the economic headwinds that have affected movers over the last six months,” said Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister.
In equity markets, student accommodation provider Unite was in the black after saying it had already sold 90% of its rooms for the 2023/24 academic year, reflecting strong demand as well as new nomination agreements with universities.
Petrofac tanked after it warned of a wider full-year loss following a review of its portfolio, while Tullow Oil was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘underperform’ at Jefferies.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Centrica Plc | +1.95% | +2.20 | 115.10 |
| 2 |  |
Itv Plc | +1.75% | +1.44 | 83.56 |
| 3 |  |
Direct Line Insurance Group Plc | +1.71% | +2.70 | 160.85 |
| 4 |  |
Astrazeneca Plc | +1.55% | +180.00 | 11,810.00 |
| 5 |  |
Shell Plc | +1.34% | +32.50 | 2,463.00 |
| 6 |  |
Melrose Industries Plc | +1.18% | +1.95 | 166.60 |
| 7 |  |
National Grid Plc | +1.18% | +13.50 | 1,155.50 |
| 8 |  |
Bt Group Plc | +1.14% | +1.75 | 154.60 |
| 9 |  |
Aviva Plc | +1.09% | +4.60 | 424.80 |
| 10 |  |
Glencore Plc | +1.08% | +5.10 | 477.35 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ocado Group Plc | -2.98% | -15.60 | 508.40 |
| 2 |  |
Flutter Entertainment Plc | -2.14% | -325.00 | 14,885.00 |
| 3 |  |
Tui Ag | -1.80% | -10.60 | 579.00 |
| 4 |  |
Carnival Plc | -0.99% | -7.20 | 722.40 |
| 5 |  |
Anglo American Plc | -0.89% | -24.00 | 2,685.00 |
| 6 |  |
Fresnillo Plc | -0.74% | -6.00 | 800.40 |
| 7 |  |
Ferguson Plc | -0.64% | -65.00 | 10,110.00 |
| 8 |  |
Easyjet Plc | -0.58% | -2.90 | 498.50 |
| 9 |  |
Mondi Plc | -0.42% | -5.50 | 1,297.50 |
| 10 |  |
Segro Plc | -0.41% | -3.20 | 770.40 |
US close: Stocks mixed ahead of CPI reading
Major indices delivered a mixed performance on Tuesday as traders looked ahead to tomorrow’s consumer price index reading.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.29% at 33,684.79, while the S&P 500 was flat at 4,108.94 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.43% weaker at 12,031.88.
The Dow closed 98.27 points higher on Tuesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as market participants returned from the Easter Break in a more positive mood.
Investors seemed to be holding out for March’s consumer and producer price indexes, due out on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, with both inflation metrics likely to provide markets with further insight into what the Federal Reserve may look to do with its rate-hiking campaign going forward.
On the macro front for Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business‘ small business optimism index edged to a three-month low of 90.1 in March, down from 90.9 in February to mark the 15th straight month the index has sat below its 49-year average of 98.
The coming US earnings seasons was also drawing an amount of investor attention, with a number of major American banks set to publish their latest quarterly results, the first since traders zeroed-in on the banking sector last month following multiple crises.
Oil futures were also in focus, with West Texas Intermediate futures 0.13% lower at $81.42 per barrel and Brent crude changing hands at $85.61 per barrel, up 1.70% on the session.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: EY, Tesla, Jes Staley
EY has scrapped plans for a radical breakup of its global operations after internal disputes over the potential structure of the new businesses. The company started laying the groundwork for separating its audit and advisory businesses – under the codename Project Everest – last year, as the big four accounting firms faced mounting criticism about conflicts of interest between the two divisions. – Guardian
Ministers have been urged to ramp up spending on public transport in England and Wales to tackle the climate emergency, and to unlock a £50bn a year boost to the economy, in a report by the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The report released by the TUC, a federation representing 48 unions, argues for a radical increase in investment – calling for £18bn more a year to be spent on operating trains, trams and buses to help cut car use by 20%, improve quality of life and boost the UK economy. – Guardian
Tesla is in advanced talks to snap up part of a vast warehouse site in Milton Keynes as Elon Musk seeks to accelerate sales of its electric cars in Britain. The electric vehicle (EV) maker is preparing to sign a lease for a newly built logistics space in the city, property website React News reported. – Telegraph
The troubled investment group behind a failed bid for Audioboom, the podcast company, has launched legal proceedings against Robert Bonnier over a previously undisclosed loan it provided to the financier. All Active Asset Capital said it was suing Bonnier, one of its key associates, for his alleged failure to repay £1.3 million related to a “short-term secured loan” it had provided in March last year. – The Times
A judge in the United States has rejected a request by Jes Staley, the former JP Morgan executive, to sever the bank’s lawsuit accusing him of concealing what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein, the American sex offender and financier, from two related legal cases against the bank. The decision in New York is a defeat for Staley, who had said the trial for all three cases scheduled for October 23 left him too little time to defend himself against the bank’s “slanderous” accusations. – The Times
