29th Oct 2025 07:00
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open marginally lower on Wednesday, following a record close on Tuesday, ahead of a swathe of earnings reports and interest rate decisions in the US and Canada.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 0.6 points at 9,697.34 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 0.4% at 9,696.74 on Tuesday, a new closing peak. It had earlier set a new intra-day high of 9,727.09.
Sterling was at USD1.3232 on Wednesday morning, down from USD1.3279 at the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro was lower at USD1.1629 from USD1.1660. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JPY152.20 versus JPY152.14.
US President Donald Trump said he expected a "lot of problems" to be solved with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in their talks on dialling down their hugely damaging trade war.
The US leader said he expected their first face-to-face meeting of his second term scheduled on Thursday to result in the US lowering tariffs imposed on China in relation to fentanyl.
"I think we're going to have a great meeting with President Xi of China, and a lot of problems are going to be solved," Trump said en route to South Korea where he is due to meet with Xi, saying he is "optimistic".
"We have been talking to them, we're not just walking into the meeting cold... I think we're going to have a very good outcome for our country and for the world actually," he said on Air Force One.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was unchanged at 3.98% on Wednesday from late on Tuesday. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.54%, slimmed slightly from 4.55%.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite in China was 0.6% higher. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is closed for the Double Ninth Festival. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed 1.0% lower.
Overnight, third quarter earnings season continued to unfold.
Visa increased its quarterly dividend by 14% after reporting fourth quarter revenue ahead of expectations.
The San Francisco, California-based payment card services company said net income fell 4.3% to USD5.09 billion in the three months to September 30, the financial fourth quarter, from USD5.32 billion a year prior.
Revenue increased 12% to USD10.72 billion from USD9.62 billion, or 11% at constant currency, ahead of USD10.6 billion consensus.
Chief Executive Ryan McInerney said results reflected "continued healthy consumer spending."
Wednesday will be another busy day of earnings reports, with technology firms Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet set to release figures after the close in New York.
"Clearly, participants will want to see top- and bottom-line beats from the names in question, but will also pay close attention to both AI capex, as well as how that capex is starting to be monetised," said Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown.
Gold was higher at USD3,978.30 an ounce early on Wednesday from USD3,957.04 late Tuesday. Brent oil was trading lower at USD63.95 a barrel from USD64.33.
Wednesday's global economic diary has interest rate decisions in the US and Canada, and UK mortgage approvals data.
Pepperstone's Michael Brown said: "The [Federal Open Market Committee] are set to deliver a second straight 25 basis point cut, while also nodding towards another such move at the December meeting, and maintaining a largely unchanged policy statement, as the fog of uncertainty caused by the ongoing government shutdown sees policymakers continuing to err on the side of caution, gradually easing policy in an attempt to prop up the stalling US labour market.
"Chair Powell should largely mirror this stance in the post-meeting presser."
The Bank of Canada is also set for a 25 basis point cut on Wednesday.
Wednesday's UK corporate calendar has third quarter results from pharmaceuticals firm GSK, and trading statements from miner Glencore and retailer Next.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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