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London equities struggled for momentum on Wednesday, while a cooler UK inflation reading, boosted rate cut hopes but kept a lid on the pound. Across the Atlantic, Nvidia’s results will be in focus. The FTSE 100 index edged up 4.80 points, 0.1%, to 9,557.10. The FTSE 250 was up just 9.60 points, at 21,434.41, and the AIM All-Share was 4.36 points higher, 0.6%, at 738.83. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 954.32, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% higher at 18,525.70, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 17,462.55. The CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt each fell 0.2%. Sterling fell to $1.3135 early Wednesday, from $1.3141 late Tuesday. The euro climbed to $1.1581 from $1.1576, while against the yen, the buck rose to JP¥155.65 from JP¥155.44. UK consumer price inflation cooled last month, to the tamest level since June, numbers on Wednesday showed. According to the Office for National Statistics, the pace of annual consumer price inflation abated to 3.6% in October, from 3.8% in September. The reading landed in line with consensus cited by FXStreet and backs the Bank of England’s notion that rate of inflation has peaked. The reading for October snaps a three-month streak of the rate coming in at 3.8%. In June, it was at 3.6%. In October 2024, the pace of yearly consumer price growth was 2.3%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.4% in October of this year. In September, they had been flat from August. Annual service price inflation, a gauge closely-watched by policymakers, cooled to 4.5% last month from 4.7% in September. The reading could pave the way for the Bank of England to resume cutting rates. Threadneedle Street has maintained bank rate at 4.00% for the past two meetings. It had cut in February, May and August. The next BoE decision is on December 18, a day after another consumer price inflation reading. Deutsche Bank analyst Sanjay Raja believes the data presents a ‘clearer path’ to a December BoE cut. ‘With the labour market softening more than expected, GDP growth weaker than the Bank of England projected, and (underlying) inflation tracking a little lower than BoE expectations, we think Governor [Andrew] Bailey who will likely have the deciding vote for December will feel more confident about cutting bank rate below 4%,’ the analysts said. In New York on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.1%, the S&P 500 fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2%. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was steady at 4.12% early Wednesday, where it stood at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday. The 30-year yield widened to 4.75% from 4.74%. In focus on Wednesday will be third quarter results from chipmaker Nvidia. Analysts at ING commented: ‘The magnificent seven tech stocks are around 7% off their highs a drop in the ocean compared to the 70% rally since April. But the understandable fear is that this is a very crowded trade and that a casual walk to the exit could turn into something less orderly should cause be found. Hence, the intense interest in tonight’s release of third-quarter results for Nvidia and whether Softbank’s decision to sell its entire holdings of Nvidia was something more than a reallocation of its investments in the US tech sector. ‘Beyond Nvidia, the focus over the next 24 hours will be on Fed policy. Tonight sees the release of the October FOMC minutes, where ’strongly differing’ views on the future path for monetary policy pose an upside risk to the dollar. And then tomorrow’s release of the delayed September jobs report will probably be the best chance for the dollar to go lower this week. Should the jobs data fail to swing the market towards a Fed cut in December (currently 50% priced), then pressure remains on equity markets.’ Nvidia shares are up 23% over the past 12 months, a stretch which has seen it top both the $4 trillion and $5 trillion market capitalisation thresholds, the first firm to achieve these accolades. Shares have fallen 10% so far in November, however, pushing its market value back below $5 trillion to $4.41 trillion currently. In Tokyo on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 ended 0.3% lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%, though the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 0.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney shed 0.3%. A barrel of Brent rose to $64.35 early Wednesday, from $64.10 late Tuesday afternoon in London. Gold rose to $4,081.11 an ounce from $4,060.07. In London, Sage shares rose 1.0%. It said it enjoyed ‘another good performance’ in its recently-ended financial year, with artificial intelligence ‘creating a significant opportunity’. The enterprise software firm also announced a new £300 million share buyback. Revenue in the year ended September 30 improved 7.8% to £2.51 billion from £2.33 billion, Sage reports, pushing pretax profit 14% higher to £484 million from £426 million. On an organic basis, revenue grew 9%. Among mid-caps, WH Smith gave back 3.4% as it announced its chief executive will leave the post after a Deloitte probe found ‘shortcomings’ in the retailer’s North America arm. Ocado sunk by another 6.9% after a 17% slump on Tuesday. It had reported three robotic customer fulfilment centres closures by trading partner Kroger will reduce fee revenue in financial 2026 by around $50 million. The Hatfield, England-based online grocer and warehouse technology firm had launched a partnership with Kroger, one of the largest supermarket chains in the US, back in 2018. Workspace slumped 8.3%, the worst 250 performer. The work space provider said the market remains ‘challenging’. ‘As expected, occupancy was lower in the first half, but we are seeing encouraging signs that the actions we are taking are positively impacting customer retention and conversion,’ Chief Executive Officer Lawrence Hutchings said. Net rental income in the half-year to September 30 fell 3.0% to £58.7 million from £60.5 million. It swung to a pretax loss of £71.1 million from profit of £10.2 million, amid a £95.3 million hit from the change in fair value of investment properties, which worsened from £20.0 million a year prior. EPRA net tangible assets per share fell 6.8% to £7.21 from £7.74 at the end of March. Workspace maintained its interim payout at 9.4 pence per share. The company added: ‘We are operating in a softer economy, and we are seeing some customers defer decisions amidst considerable uncertainty in the lead-up to the autumn budget. Alongside the summer holidays and tube strikes in September, the tough operating environment has impacted demand, with average monthly enquiries down in the first half.’ Elsewhere, recently-floated Beauty Tech added 7.6%. It is trading ‘ahead of expectations’ and the at-home beauty products firm now expects revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2025 ahead of current market expectations of £117.0 million and £29.7 million. Beauty Tech predicts revenue of at least £128.0 million and an adjusted Ebitda of no less than £32.0 million. ‘I am pleased to report that the strong trading momentum the group experienced in Q3 has continued into Q4. There is no doubt that the successful IPO has added to the growing awareness of both the Beauty Tech Group and the at-home beauty device sector in which we operate. We are excited to enter the important Black Friday and Christmas trading period in a strong financial and operational position, and I look forward to updating shareholders on our full year performance in January,’ CEO Laurence Newman said. Beauty Tech floated on the main market last month, at 271p per share. Shares are now trading at 240p each, down 11% from the IPO price. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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