20th Aug 2025 06:53
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Wednesday, ahead of the UK consumer price index release.
"The data highlight comes here in Blighty, with the July inflation figures due this morning," Pepperstone's Michael Brown commented. "Headline CPI is set to have risen 3.7% YoY last month, with the BoE having pencilled in a 4% peak in September, while services inflation is also set to have accelerated 0.1pp on the month, to 4.8% YoY.
"I'd argue there's not really a 'good' print for the quid here, as a soft figure would spur expectations that the BoE will cut at the next 'live' meeting in November, while a hot figure would only reignite concerns over the stagflationary economic backdrop."
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 12.7 points, 0.1%, on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed 0.3% higher at 9,189.22 on Tuesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3483 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.3503 at the London equities close on Tuesday.
The euro traded at USD1.1639 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.1669 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted lower at JPY147.45 versus JPY147.75.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 10.45 points, the S&P 500 down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.5%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 1.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.1%.
The People's Bank of China kept its one-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3.0% and the five-year LPR at 3.5%, in line with the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast.
Gold was quoted at USD3,320.25 an ounce early Wednesday, lower than USD3,325.33 on Tuesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD66.01 a barrel early Wednesday, lower than USD66.08 late Tuesday.
In Wednesday's corporate calendar, Lion Finance and Ithaca Energy release half-year results.
In the economic calendar on Wednesday, UK consumer inflation and German producer inflation are due for release shortly.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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