21st Jan 2026 09:22
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Wednesday, after Tuesday's global market selloff, amid a swathe of trading updates.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 2.57 points at 10,129.35. The FTSE 250 was up 79.25 points, 0.4%, at 23,037.12, and the AIM All-Share was up 5.77 points, 0.7%, at 806.91.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 1,013.46, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 20,191.28, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 17,853.44.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.3% lower.
Sterling was at USD1.3438 on Wednesday morning, down from USD1.3462 at the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro was lower at USD1.1711 from USD1.1733. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JPY157.87 versus JPY157.95.
As the market reaction to US President Donald Trump's threats against Greenland continued to unfold, investors were also focused on UK inflation.
UK inflation rose more than expected in December, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics.
The consumer prices index including owner occupiers' housing costs, or CPIH, rose by 3.6% in the 12 months to December, up from 3.5% in November.
On a month-on-month basis, CPIH rose by 0.4% in December, compared with a rise of 0.3% in the same month last year.
Headline consumer prices index inflation also accelerated. CPI rose by 3.4% year-on-year in December, up from 3.2% in November. The figure was above the FXStreet-cited consensus of 3.3%.
Monthly CPI rose by 0.4% in December, compared with a 0.3% rise a year earlier. This was in line with the consensus.
The ONS said alcohol, tobacco and transport made the largest upward contributions to the monthly change. Prices for alcohol and tobacco rose 1.0% monthly in December after a 0.2% decline in November, while transport costs rose 1.3% on-month in December, up from 1.0% in November.
Core CPIH, which is CPIH excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose by 3.5% in the 12 months to December, unchanged from the previous month. Within this, goods inflation rose to 2.2% from 2.1% while the services annual rate remained at 4.5%.
Similarly, core CPI was unchanged at 3.2%. The CPI goods annual rate rose to 2.2% from 2.1% while the CPI services annual rate rose to 4.5% from 4.4%.
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown said: "Digging into the details of the print, the majority of the upside seen in December's inflation print came from a variety of one-off factors, largely centring around an increase in tobacco prices stemming from the November Budget, as well as a 28.6% [on-month] rise in airfares, largely owing to the timing of the ONS's survey coinciding with the peak pre-Christmas travel season. It is near-certain that policymakers will look through these one-off factors, not least considering that the bulk of these effects will unwind in the January data anyway."
Brown said it is unlikely that the December inflation figures "materially change things" for the Bank of England in the short-term, with the monetary policy committee set to hold the rate steady at the February meeting.
Brown added: "That said, the overall disinflationary trend remains broadly intact, and is likely to continue throughout the first half of the year, with the 2% inflation target set to be achieved at some stage in the spring. In turn, such an outlook ensures that the path for Bank Rate remains lower, though policymakers are likely to want a little more data to be sure of such a path - especially the MPC's hawks - before pulling the trigger on another rate cut. In any case, concern over inflation persistence, to my mind, seems misplaced, not least considering the rapid pace at which slack continues to emerge in the labour market, plus with risks to employment, and growth at large, continuing to tilt to the downside."
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump resumed his trip to the Davos forum in Switzerland early Wednesday after an electrical issue forced his presidential plane to return to its air base.
The American president is on his way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he is expected to face off with European leaders over his bid to seize Greenland.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was marginally higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.4% lower.
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%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.27%, narrowing slightly from 4.28% at the close on Tuesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury slimmed to 4.90% from 4.91%.
In London, Burberry led the way on the FTSE 100 and climbed 5.6%.
The London-based luxury fashion house said its retail revenue for the 13 weeks to December 27, the third quarter of the year, was GBP665 million, up from GBP659 million a year ago.
Burberry said it expects adjusted operating profit to be in line with consensus for financial 2026.
"We are confident that we can build on the progress we've made in quality of earnings, continuing to improve performance and driving sustainable long-term value," the company said.
Experian was down 5.3% and fell the most on the FTSE 100, as is said it delivered "strong" growth in the third quarter, as total revenue rose 12% at actual exchange rates.
At constant exchange rates, total quarterly revenue climbed 10%, while organic revenue growth was 8%.
In North America, the financial services division delivered a "strong performance". In the UK and Ireland, it said it has driven sequential improvement despite continued soft economic activity.
"With continued strong momentum, our full year expectations are unchanged. We continue to leverage our scaled proprietary data assets, strong technology foundations and deep expertise to deliver on our strategic priorities and crystallise exciting new AI opportunities," said Chief Executive Officer Brian Cassin.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto shares climbed 4.9% after it reported broadly steady annual Pilbara iron ore volumes and said it achieved "record fourth‑quarter production" from the region.
The London-based miner said 2025 Pilbara iron ore output slipped 0.2% to 327.3 million tonnes from 328.0 million tonnes a year earlier, while shipments eased 0.7% to 326.2 million tonnes from 328.6 million tonnes, still landing within its 323 million to 338 million tonne guidance range.
On the FTSE 250 index, Premier Foods led the way and climbed 6.6%.
St Albans, Hertfordshire-based Premier Foods is a maker of branded and non-branded food, including Kipling cakes and Oxo stock cubes.
It said sales in the third quarter were up 4.2% at GBP375.1 million from GBP360.1 million a year ago.
Year-to-date sales as at December 27 were 2.1% higher at GBP877.1 million from GBP858.8 million.
The firm said it expects to deliver full year trading profit at the upper end of market expectations, which are between GBP193.0 million and GBP198.2 million.
JD Wetherspoon was the biggest faller on the FTSE 250 index as it lost 6.6%.
The pub chain costs have been higher than anticipated, as it expects profit in the first half to be lower than a year ago. It also expects full year trading to be down on last year.
The Watford, England-based firm said like-for-like sales in the 25 weeks to January 18 rose 4.7%, as bar sales increased 6.9%, food by 1.3% and slot and fruit machines by 9.1%. Hotel room sales fell by 0.7%.
Total sales are up 5.3% in the year-to-date. Like-for-like sales in the main Christmas period, the three weeks to January 4, were up 8.8%.
"Costs have been higher than anticipated, with energy, wages, repairs and business rates, for example, increasing by GBP45 million in the first 25 weeks," said Chair Tim Martin. "If the current sales momentum continues, the company currently anticipates a full year trading outcome slightly below that achieved in FY25."
Gold was higher at USD4,859.20 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 USD63.67 a barrel from USD64.89.
Still to come on Wednesday's economic calendar is Canadian producer price inflation data.
By Michael Hennesssey, Alliance News reporter
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