21st Jan 2026 06:57
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open marginally lower on Wednesday, following a large fall at Wall Street, as investors focus on UK inflation data which is due shortly.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 11.1 points, 0.1%, at 10,115.68 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed down 68.57 points, 0.7%, at 10,126.78 on Tuesday.
Sterling was at USD1.3439 on Wednesday morning, down from USD1.3462 at the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro was lower at USD1.1724 from USD1.1733. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JPY158.15 versus JPY157.95.
US President Donald Trump departed for the Davos forum again after switching to a new plane, following the return of his previous aircraft to an air base due to a "minor electrical issue," the White House said.
Earlier, when asked before he was to head to Davos how far he would go about his plans to take Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, Trump replied only: "You'll find out."
Trump told reporters about his Davos meetings: "We have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland, and I think things are going to work out pretty well."
Meanwhile, European leaders drew a clear line over Greenland, vowing an "unflinching" response to Washington's threats.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen led the European rejoinder, cautioning that Trump risked plunging US ties with the EU into a "downward spiral".
Von der Leyen branded the US tariffs a "mistake", telling the meeting of world business and political leaders they could start a spiral that would only aid Europe's adversaries. "So our response will be unflinching, united and proportional," she said.
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown said: "Interestingly, US officials appear to be seeking to dial down the temperature a bit, with [US Trade Representative] Greer having flagged that Trump may be 'setting the stage' for negotiations, and Treasury Secretary Bessent having urged everyone to 'take a deep breath and let things pan out'."
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.8%, the S&P 500 down 2.1% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.4%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was marginally lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose slightly. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.4% lower.
Overnight, Netflix touted the benefits of the Warner Bros acquisition as it reported slightly better than expected fourth quarter results, although tepid guidance held shares back.
The Los Gatos, California-based streaming service said net income rose 29% to USD2.42 billion in the three months to December 31 from USD1.87 billion a year prior.
Revenue grew 18% to USD12.05 billion from USD10.25 billion, beating Visible Alpha consensus of USD11.97 billion, driven primarily by membership growth, higher pricing, and increased advertising revenue.
Netflix said it crossed the 325 million paid memberships milestone during the quarter.
For 2026, Netflix forecast revenue of USD50.7 billion to USD51.7 billion, 12% to 14% year over year growth, or 11% to 13% at constant currency, driven by increases in membership and pricing plus a projected rough doubling of ad revenue in 2026 from 2025.
Gold was higher at USD4,864.00 an ounce early on Wednesday from USD4,742.56 late Tuesday.
The yellow metal hit another record high of USD4,888.43 earlier on Wednesday.
Brent oil was trading lower at USD64.22 a barrel from USD64.89.
Wednesday's UK corporate calendar has trading statements from luxury goods manufacturer Burberry, sports retailer JD Sports, electrical retailer Currys and pub chain JD Wetherspoon.
Wednesday's global economic calendar has UK inflation figures, due at 0700 GMT, and Canadian producer price inflation data.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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