London pre-open: Stocks to gain after positive US session; inflation in focus

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday following a positive US close, as investors mulled the latest UK inflation data.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 34 points higher at 7,330.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "European markets underwent their second successive day of gains yesterday, shrugging off a negative start to close the session strongly after reports emerged from Moscow which indicated that gas flows out of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would resume as scheduled on Thursday, albeit at a lower capacity. This is certainly welcome news if true, given that earlier in the day European Commission officials were making the assumption the pipeline would not restart.

"They would probably be wise to continue on this basis given the predilection for Moscow to weaponize gas flows as they already have been doing.

"US markets also finished the day strongly higher, this time hanging onto their gains after European markets had closed, carrying on the momentum of the day in a move that looks set to translate into a higher European open."

Data out earlier from the Office for National Statistics showed that inflation hit a fresh 40-year high of 9.4% in June as the cost-of-living crisis intensified. This was up from 9.1% in May and driven by higher fuel and food prices.

In corporate news, postal service Royal Mail said that revenues had sunk 11.5% year-on-year during the first quarter of its trading year, reflecting weakening retail trends, lower test kit volumes and a return to a structural decline in letters.

Royal Mail said it had delivered an adjusted operating loss of £92.0m due to the "inflexibility" in its cost base to adjust to lower volumes and a "disappointing performance" in terms of delivering further efficiencies.

Mr Kipling and Oxo owner Premier Foods reported a rise in first-quarter sales and backed its full-year expectations.

"Trading so far this year has been in line with the board's expectations, with the group delivering strong sales growth and further market share gains," it said.

"As expected, good progress has been made in recovering industry wide input cost inflation through a range of measures, including cost efficiency and pricing action and the group continues to monitor the situation closely."