LONDON MARKET EARLY CALL: UK inflation to get dangerously close to 10%

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Wednesday, bolstered by a ...

Alliance News 17 August, 2022 | 5:54AM
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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Wednesday, bolstered by a strong session in Asia, despite a mixed day in New York overnight.

"The resilience of European markets over the past few weeks has been impressive given the challenges that are being posed, and likely to continue to be posed by record level gas prices, with the FTSE 100 and DAX both eking out fresh two-month highs yesterday," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson commented.

"Today's European session, which looks set to see a positive open, will see traders focus on the latest UK inflation numbers, US retail sales and FOMC minutes."

IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 17.00 points higher, or 0.2%, at 7,553.06. The blue chip index closed up 26.91 points, or 0.4%, at 7,536.06 on Tuesday.

In the international economics calendar on Wednesday, there is a UK inflation reading at 0700 BST, alongside producer and retail prices, followed by eurozone GDP and employment figures at 1000 BST, and US retail sales at 1330 BST. In the evening, the US Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its latest monetary policy meeting at 1900 BST.

According to FXStreet cited consensus, the UK annual inflation rate is forecast to have hit 9.8% in July from 9.4% in June.

"Now that the Bank of England has belatedly recognised that more needs to be done to try and counter the surge in prices by raising rates by 50bps earlier this month, another strong number today will probably seal the prospect of another 50bps rate rise in September," CMC's Hewson added.

The figures come after numbers on Tuesday put the jobs market and wage growth under the spotlight.

On an inflation-adjusted basis, regular UK wages fell 3.0% year-on-year in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics. Another red-hot inflation figure could make that pay squeeze even tighter.

The pound was quoted at USD1.2118 early Wednesday in London, up from USD1.2099 late Tuesday. The euro stood at USD1.0178, flat from USD1.0177. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY134.20, down slightly from JPY134.28.

In Tokyo on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 was 1.1% higher in late trade, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.3% shortly before the closing bell. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.1% higher in afternoon dealings. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 0.8%.

In New York on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7% and the S&P 500 added 0.2%, though the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%.

Gold stood at USD1,781.22 an ounce early Wednesday, up from USD1,774.80 at the London equities close on Tuesday. Brent oil was quoted at USD93.23, up from USD93.04.

The UK corporate calendar has interim results from construction firm Balfour Beatty, online stockbroker Plus500, gold miner Hochschild Mining, and blue chip housebuilder Persimmon.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

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