23rd Sep 2025 06:54
(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 is set to open higher on Tuesday, amid warnings on potential rising food inflation in the UK and ahead of US President Donald Trump meeting Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at a UN conference.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 14.8 points, 0.2%, at 9,241.48 on Tuesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 10.01 points, 0.1%, at 9,226.68 on Monday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3512 early Tuesday, higher than USD1.3501 at the London equities close on Monday.
The euro traded at USD1.1802 early Tuesday, up from USD1.1773 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted down at JPY147.73 versus JPY147.84.
Prices growing faster than wages is the biggest concern about the cost of living in the year ahead among people surveyed in the UK, data published by the British Retail Consortium and Opinium showed Tuesday.
Out of people surveyed, 57% agreed with being concerned about prices rising faster than wages, including 61% among working people. This was higher than 49% of all surveyed people being concerned about tax rises, and 26% voicing concern over rising unemployment. Further, 37% of surveyed people are concerned about wages stagnating while prices stay high, including 44% of working people.
The BRC warns that UK food inflation will rise and remain above 5% well into 2026, if the retail industry gets further tax rises at the UK government's autumn budget, due November 26.
In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.1%, the S&P 500 gaining 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite improving 0.7%.
Donald Trump meets Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday as patience wears thin on Russia, at a UN summit where the US president is expected to offer a dark take on the future of the world body.
Trump will address the United Nations for the first time since he returned to office and quickly took to slashing the US role in international organizations.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve governor newly appointed by US President Donald Trump argued for significantly lower interest rates, saying that concerns over inflation are overblown.
"I believe the appropriate Fed funds rate is in the mid-2% area, almost two percentage points lower than current policy," said Fed Governor Miran at The Economic Club of New York. He added that "with respect to tariffs, relatively small changes in some goods prices have led to what I view as unreasonable levels of concern."
But underscoring policymakers' different considerations, St Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem warned in a separate speech Monday of risks that above-target inflation could be more persistent than desirable.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo advanced 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite shed 1.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 1.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.5%.
Gold was quoted at USD3,756.67 an ounce early Tuesday, higher than USD3,729.11 on Monday.
Brent oil was trading at USD66.17 a barrel early Tuesday, down from USD66.48 late Monday.
In Tuesday's corporate calendar, half-year results from do-it-yourself retailer, Kingfisher, and full year earnings from engineering firm Smiths Group.
In the economic calendar on Tuesday, a slew of composite PMI readings including in the UK, US and eurozone.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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