London open: FTSE treads water ahead of US inflation, Nvidia earnings

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were treading water in early trade on Wednesday as investors eyed a key US inflation reading and quarterly results from US chipmaker Nvidia.

At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 10,883.88, while Brent crude was down 2.3% at $86.52 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 2.6% lower at $80.25 following reports that Iran and Oman are getting closer to reaching a deal to secure an interim reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said "the holding pattern remained in markets generally ahead of another pivotal day".

"The next leg of the journey will follow today with the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation," he said. "Headline inflation is expected to have risen by 3.6% in July, while core inflation, which excludes more volatile energy and food prices, is expected to rise to 3.2%, both of which would represent incremental gains. A preliminary estimate of second quarter GDP is also on the agenda, with business investment expected to nudge the figure to a slightly higher 1.6%, adding to the data which the Fed will be considering on the broader strength of the economy.

"Then there is the AI darling Nvidia, which posts its latest update after the close of play today. Shares gained by 2% ahead of the numbers, but there is no doubt that the bar of expectation is at fresh highs, as indeed are the company's revenue numbers. Its second quarter results are estimated to be stellar once more, with 97% growth in revenues to $92 billion, but the outlook on maintaining this extraordinary growth will also be firmly in investors' sights."

The PCE figures are due at 1330 BST, while Nvidia results will be released after the close of US markets.

UK corporate news was scarce, but Hochschild Mining surged as it said first-half adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 119% to $491.5m, while revenue rose 62% to $844.4m, underpinned by higher metals prices.

Miners more broadly were in the black, with Antofagasta and Anglo American among the top performers on the FTSE 100 as copper prices advanced.

Elsewhere, Applied Nutrition shot higher as it said that FY27 total adjusted EBITDA and revenue were set to beat consensus market expectations.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,883.88 -0.02%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,888.49 0.13%

techMARK (TASX) 6,167.29 -0.30%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,078.00p 2.12%

Anglo American (AAL) 4,270.00p 1.33%

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 13,430.00p 1.28%

Autotrader Group (AUTO) 547.80p 1.22%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 517.00p 1.22%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 447.30p 1.15%

Halma (HLMA) 3,620.00p 1.12%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,195.50p 1.06%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 337.20p 1.02%

Whitbread (WTB) 2,489.00p 0.89%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

The Sage Group (SGE) 1,076.00p -2.72%

BP (BP.) 518.10p -2.12%

Shell (SHEL) 3,338.50p -1.51%

Relx plc (REL) 2,600.00p -0.95%

Experian (EXPN) 2,980.00p -0.93%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,754.00p -0.43%

BAE Systems (BA.) 2,086.00p -0.43%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 117.60p -0.30%

Centrica (CNA) 155.00p -0.26%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,110.00p -0.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Applied Nutrition (APN) 347.75p 5.91%

Rank Group (RNK) 114.20p 5.16%

Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,894.00p 4.87%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 658.50p 4.08%

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 679.00p 3.19%

IP Group (IPO) 74.00p 2.78%

SSP Group (SSPG) 202.20p 2.48%

Derwent London (DLN) 2,068.00p 2.43%

Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 191.40p 2.35%

GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 83.40p 2.08%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Softcat (SCT) 2,030.00p -2.40%

Energean (ENOG) 750.00p -1.83%

Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 817.00p -1.80%

Johnson Service Group (JSG) 143.00p -1.79%

Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,086.00p -1.63%

Mony Group (MONY) 209.00p -1.63%

Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 1,496.00p -1.61%

Neuberger Private Equity Partners Limited (NBPE) 1,470.00p -1.61%

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 875.50p -1.52%

Telecom Plus (TEP) 860.00p -1.51%