22nd Jul 2026 07:00
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Wednesday, ahead of the UK releasing its consumer, producer and retail price inflation data for June.
Consensus is for consumer prices to rise 0.1% month-on-month, compared with 0.2% in May, with year-on-year inflation slowing to 2.7%. Annual producer inflation is expected to slow to 3.0% from 3.1% in May.
Single bus fares across England will be capped at GBP2 from January, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced.
The nationwide cap is currently set at GBP3 until the end of March 2027 although some areas – including London and Greater Manchester, where Burnham set a GBP2 limit as mayor – have lower top rates for single tickets.
Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump warned he was "not finished" with a war with Iran that has already cost his nation USD37.5 billion.
The US military said Tuesday it had launched an eleventh consecutive night of strikes against Iran, saying it targeted military sites to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz".
Brent oil was trading at USD91.88 a barrel early Wednesday, higher than USD91.36 late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a new US tariff targeting Brazil took effect Wednesday, while Washington's other trading partners brace for a fresh volley of duties as President Donald Trump's temporary global levies expire this week.
The 25% Brazil tariff followed a year-long US investigation, with Washington accusing the Latin American country of unfair trade practices.
Further, Trump announced the imposition of steep tariffs on imported generic drugs from August 2028, a move he said was aimed at onshoring production of such pharmaceutical products.
"Effective August 1st, 2026, all generic drugs being brought into the US will continue to have a TARIFF of ZERO PERCENT for a two year period of time, after which the TARIFF will be raised to 100% for a one year period of time, and 200% thereafter," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 28.4 points, 0.3%, on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 61.15 points, 0.6%, at 10,585.91 on Tuesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3382 early Wednesday, higher than USD1.3375 at the London equities close on Tuesday. Against the euro, sterling rose to EUR1.1726 from EUR1.1720 a day prior.
The euro traded at USD1.1407 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.1408 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY163.15 versus JPY162.97.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.3%.
Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya noted that Alphabet and Tesla "will step into the [half-year] earnings confessional" later on Wednesday.
"Some analysts believe total Big Tech capital expenditures could reach USD800 billion to USD1 trillion this year," she said, noting that Alphabet has pledged to spend USD180 billion to USD190 billion, while Tesla has pledged around USD25 billion. "If that proves correct, investors will expect these companies to reaffirm or even raise those spending plans over the coming hours, days and weeks.
"But the latest reports suggest Tesla...has spent only around USD2.5 billion so far this year...That raises questions about potential underspending on AI, autonomous driving and humanoid robots—the very ambitions that continue to underpin Tesla's valuation, given that its automotive business remains under pressure from Elon Musk's political controversies and intensifying competition from Chinese EV makers."
She added: "By tomorrow morning, following the first major Big Tech earnings reports, we should have a clearer sense of whether the tech heavy US indices deserve to move higher on the back of solid earnings growth, and despite the geopolitical headwinds of higher operating costs, rising borrowing costs and a weaker growth outlook."
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.2%.
Gold was quoted at USD4,131.80 an ounce early Wednesday, higher than USD4,077.93 on Tuesday.
In Wednesday's corporate calendar, Fresnillo, Hochschild and JD Wetherspoon have trading updates.
In the economic calendar on Wednesday, the UK has its CPI, PPI and RPI, with Ireland's producer inflation following later.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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