London pre-open: Stocks to edge up ahead of US inflation print

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday as investors eyed a key US inflation reading and more US bank earnings.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 12 points higher.

The US consumer price index for September is due at 1330 BST. The market is expecting headline inflation to rise to 3.7% from 3.4%, driven by rising energy costs, while the core rate of CPI is seen edging up to 2.5% from 2.4% in August.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "This is a key economic print before the FOMC meeting later this month. This reading will tell us if inflation is cooling, like the August PCE print suggested, or if it is becoming a problem again. Hotter inflation will keep interest rates higher for longer, and it will also weigh on bonds and push yields higher. Higher bond yields hurt corporate profits and may put pressure on equities later this week.

"As the Middle East war enters its eighth month, can stocks continue to rally if inflation is rising? This is the question that could keep stock market investors on edge this week."

Investors will also be turning their attention to quarterly earnings from Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock across the pond.

In UK corporate news, Rio Tinto said it remains on track to unlock around $5bn of capital by the end of 2026 after a strong operational performance helped third-quarter iron ore sales from its Pilbara operations beat market expectations.

The mining giant shipped 85.7m tonnes of iron ore in the three months to 30 September, up 2% year-on-year and ahead of analyst forecasts of 84.41m tonnes.

Investment manager Ashmore said that assets under management edged up by $500m to $54.5bn in the first quarter, with $1.1bn of net inflows more than offsetting $600m of negative investment performance.

Inflows were described as broadbased, split evenly between fixed income and equities, with every investment theme seeing net subscriptions except corporate debt, which was flat. The FTSE 250 firm also highlighted a notable drop in gross redemptions, which fell to their lowest quarterly level in more than 15 years.