(Sharecast News) - London stocks were treading water by midday on Tuesday as investors eyed the latest US inflation reading and the start of the US earnings season.
The FTSE 100 was flat at 10,136.16. At the same time, oil prices hit their highest level in nearly two months after US President Donald Trump said countries doing business with Iran would face 25% tariffs.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "The Trump administration's announcement of a 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran, and continuing suggestions of potential military intervention amid the escalating protests in the country, do not seem to be spooking markets too much right now.
"After the recent noise around the independence of the Federal Reserve, new inflation data may offer some clarity about whether there is a case for a near-term interest rate cut following mixed jobs numbers last week."
The US consumer price index for December is due at 1330 GMT. On the corporate front, JPMorgan will kick off the US earnings season and a slew of bank earnings due this week with its fourth-quarter numbers later in the day.
After sentiment was hit on Monday on news that the Trump administration had threatened Jerome Powell with a criminal indictment, the heads of 11 central banks threw their support behind the Federal Reserve chairman.
In a joint statement, the heads of the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada, Sweden's Riksbank and seven other central banks said: "We stand in full solidarity with the Federal
Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell.
"The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in `the interest `of the citizens that we serve."
The statement came after it emerged on Sunday that the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the $2.5bn renovation of the Fed's headquarters, and into Powell's testimony about the project to the Senate banking committee in June last year.
On home shores, the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium showed that retail sales underwhelmed in December as consumers refrained from splashing out until the January sales.
According the latest BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor, food sales increased by 3.1% in the five weeks between 30 November and 3 January. That compared to growth of 1.7% in December 2024. However, non-food sales - which rose 4.4% a year previously - fell 0.3%.
As a result, UK total retail sales increased by just 1.2% year-on-year last month, compared to growth of 3.2% in December 2024. The uplift was also below the 12-month average growth of 2.3%, and lower than November's 1.4% increase.
It was, however, better than expected, with consensus for a more modest 0.6% rise.
In equity markets, Whitbread shot to the top of the FTSE 100 as it reiterated its full-year outlook after solid demand for its hotels during the third quarter helped offset weaker food and drink sales. It also said it now expects the cost impact from the proposed change in business rates to be around 35m, lower than its initial estimate for between 40m and 50m.
Trustpilot was the standout gainer on the FTSE 250 after saying it expects to report a 22% year-on-year increase in bookings for 2025 and for adjusted EBITDA to be ahead of market expectations.
Housebuilder Persimmon reversed earlier gains despite saying it expects annual earnings to be at the upper end of forecasts after a bigger-than-expected rise in home completions.
Recruiter PageGroup slumped as it posted a drop in fourth-quarter gross profit, highlighting ongoing challenging conditions in Continental Europe and the UK.
Rentokil lost ground after saying it had appointed Mike Duffy as chief executive and an executive director with effect from 16 March. Duffy succeeds Andy Ransom, who will step down as CEO on 16 March.
Raspberri Pi was under the cosh as the low-cost computer maker said 2025 profits would be ahead of expectations after a strong second half but flagged uncertainty going into 2026 as the price of memory surged due to suppliers diverting products to artificial intelligence data centres.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,136.16 -0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,910.28 -0.55%
techMARK (TASX) 5,815.55 -0.56%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Whitbread (WTB) 2,708.00p 4.80%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,818.00p 2.03%
Beazley (BEZ) 822.50p 1.54%
Barclays (BARC) 480.15p 1.50%
Mondi (MNDI) 908.00p 1.45%
Prudential (PRU) 1,179.50p 1.16%
British Land Company (BLND) 401.40p 1.11%
Shell (SHEL) 2,689.50p 1.05%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,504.00p 0.94%
BP (BP.) 430.55p 0.93%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 312.50p -3.82%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 18,330.00p -2.86%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 9,446.00p -2.66%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 461.90p -2.47%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,300.00p -2.39%
ICG (ICG) 2,036.00p -1.93%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,970.00p -1.83%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,391.00p -1.66%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 133.55p -1.66%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,036.00p -1.56%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 205.00p 8.93%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 273.00p 6.31%
Gamma Communications (GAMA) 922.00p 4.42%
Senior (SNR) 226.00p 3.20%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,990.00p 2.31%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 849.00p 1.68%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 164.90p 1.66%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,185.00p 1.63%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 297.50p 1.54%
Playtech (PTEC) 277.00p 1.47%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 262.80p -9.38%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 121.80p -4.55%
THG (THG) 45.90p -4.22%
Vistry Group (VTY) 680.40p -2.94%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 557.00p -2.79%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 106.65p -2.74%
SSP Group (SSPG) 192.30p -2.68%
Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 934.00p -2.61%
Hill and Smith (HILS) 2,250.00p -2.60%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,257.00p -2.56%
3.35 (0.03%)
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