London pre-open: Stocks to gain after positive US session; UK inflation dips

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday following a positive US session, as oil prices ticked up amid escalating tensions between the US and as investors mulled the latest UK inflation figures and looked ahead to earnings from Tesla and Alphabet.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 26 points higher. At 0710 BST, Brent crude was up 1.1% at $91.98 a barrel and while West Texas Intermediate was 1% higher at $85.15 after the US carried out strikes on Iran for the 11th consecutive night and after Iran targeted a US military base in Kuwait with drones.

In a statement on Tuesday, US Central Command (Centcom) said it had targeted Iranian military operations centres, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure.

Across the pond, Tesla and Alphabet will release quarterly earnings after the closing bell.

Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management said: "Alphabet's capital-spending guidance will be a major test of whether the AI buildout can continue without placing too much pressure on free cash flow and credit markets."

On home shores, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that consumer price inflation slowed to 2.6% in the 12 months to June from 2.8% in May. Economists were expecting a smaller dip to 2.7%.

The ONS said transport, and food and non-alcoholic beverages made the largest downward contributions to the change.

Core CPI - which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose 2.6% in June, unchanged from May.

Martin Sartorius, lead economist at the Confederation of British Industry, said: "Inflation ticked down slightly in June, broadly in line with our latest projection. We expect this easing will prove temporary. Inflationary pressures are likely to firm over the next few months, reflecting the ongoing impact of the Iran conflict on energy bills and some passthrough to domestic prices. Renewed tensions in the Middle East mean that households and businesses will continue to face an uncertain and volatile outlook as we head towards autumn.

"We anticipate the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee to keep interest rates unchanged when it meets next week, as it maintains a 'wait and see' approach to the economy. Although risks remain elevated, a loosening labour market, soft domestic activity, and tighter financial conditions mean that the Committee is unlikely to raise rates in the near term."

In corporate news, pub chain JD Wetherspoon said annual profits were likely to be below market expectations, with marginally lower sales than anticipated in the final quarter, combined with higher food, labour, repairs, energy and business rate costs.

In an unusually brief trading update, the company said like-for-like sales increased 4% in the 12 weeks to 19 July, compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date like-for-like sales increased by 4.2%.

Convenience foods manufacturer Greencore said that thirdquarter pro forma revenues were up 3.2%, prompting it to raise its FY26 adjusted operating profit guidance to above market expectations at �234m to �242m.

The uplift was driven largely by stronger underlying trading across the enlarged business, with volume and mix contributing 2.3% and price/inflation recovery adding 0.9%.