10th Sep 2025 06:54
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Wednesday, shaking off tepid Chinese and geopolitical worries.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 14.9 points higher, 0.2%, at 9,257.43 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 21.09 points, 0.2%, at 9,242.53 on Tuesday.
In the US on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4%.
Consumer prices in China fell last month at their fastest rate in six months, official data showed Wednesday, a sign of persistent deflationary pressure in the world's second-largest economy.
Beijing has in recent years been battling sluggish domestic spending, dragged down by a prolonged slump in the country's vast property market as pressure on exports mounts.
The consumer price index – a key measure of inflation – dropped 0.4% year-on-year in August, compared to a flat reading in July, according to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics.
The reading was lower than the 0.2% fall Bloomberg forecast based on a survey of economists.
It also marked the steepest decline since February's drop of 0.7%.
Nonetheless, equities in Asia rose.
In Tokyo on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 1.2% higher. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3%.
"Asia stocks continue to dance to the same tune Wall Street's been humming, letting the Fed's dovish backbeat set the tempo as tech names keep strumming the lead. Oracle's thunderclap in US after-hours — record bookings, cloud euphoria — set the riff that carried across the Pacific," SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented.
Shares in Oracle leapt as it predicted buoyant cloud infrastructure sales, reflecting strong demand, after what it called an "astonishing" quarter.
Shares shot up 28% in after hours trading.
The Austin, Texas-based, cloud technologies-focused company said net income was flat USD2.93 billion in the three months to August 31 with diluted earnings per share up edging down to USD1.01 from USD1.03.
Revenue increased 12% to USD14.93 billion from USD13.31 billion a year prior, shy of USD15.03 billion consensus.
Total remaining performance obligations were up 359% year-over-year to USD455 billion, Cloud revenues rose 28% to USD7.2 billion but software revenue was down 1% at USD5.7 billion.
Innes added: "The Fed put remains the chorus. Cooling labour prints, messy and endlessly revised, are being heard as softer notes that justify three cuts before year-end."
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday said it had overestimated total nonfarm employment by 911,000 jobs, or 0.6%, in the 12 months through March 2025, according to its preliminary benchmark revision.
The pound traded at USD1.3536 early Wednesday, up slightly from USD1.3531 at the time of the London equities on Tuesday. The euro faded to USD1.1708 from USD1.1724. Against the yen, the dollar bought JPY147.40, up from JPY147.20.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened slightly to 4.09% from 4.08%. The yield on the 30-year stayed at 4.73%.
Geopolitics remained in focus. The White House distanced itself Tuesday from Israel's strikes against Hamas in Doha, reiterating President Donald Trump's support for ally Qatar, while declining to confirm if Israel had pre-notified Washington of its attack.
While eliminating Hamas was a "worthy goal," a strike in the Qatari capital Doha "does not advance Israel or America's goals," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, reading from a statement.
"The president views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the US, and feels very badly about the location of this attack," she said.
Poland said Wednesday that "hostile objects" had been downed by Polish or allied aircraft scrambled in response to multiple violations of its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine.
"Aircraft have used weapons against hostile objects," Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on social media, adding: "We are in constant contact with Nato command."
Russian drones and missiles have entered the airspace of Nato members including Poland several times during Russia's three-and-a-half-year war, but a Nato country has never attempted to shoot them down.
Gold rose to USD3,642.10 an ounce early Wednesday from USD3,640.80 late Tuesday. A barrel of Brent rose to USD67.03 from USD66.91.
Wednesday's local corporate calendar has a trading statement from Primark owner Associated British Foods, and half year results from housebuilder Vistry.
The global economic calendar on Wednesday has US producer price inflation figures at 1330 BST.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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