FTSE 100 Down Marginally As Investors React To Results, Inflation Data

U.K. stocks are slightly lower Wednesday morning, weighed down by data showing a bigger than expected increase in the nation’s consumer price inflation. Fears of fresh tariffs by the U.S. weigh as well.

U.S. President Donald Trump continued his aggressive stance on trade, reiterating that America will charge reciprocal tariff to trading partners which would be ‘no more, no less’ levied by other countries.

Investors are also digesting latest earnings updates, and continuing to closely monitor the developments on the geopolitical front.

The pound sterling was moving higher after data showed U.K. consumer price inflation rose more than expected to a 10-month high in January.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 23.59 points or 0.27% at 8,743.14 a little while ago.

Glencore is down nearly 7% after the company reported a drop in full-year earnings. EasyJet is declining 4.3%. Barratt Redrow, Hiscox, Kingfisher, Melrose Industries, JD Sports Fashion and IAG are down 2 to 3%.

Taylor Wimpey, Anglo American Plc, Persimmon, Ashtead Group, Spirax Group, Associated British Foods, Beazley, IHG, Weir Group Holdings, Whitbread and Fresnillo are down 1 to 2%.

SSE is rising more than 1.5%. Antofagasta is up 1% on rating upgrade.

BP is gaining about 1% on reports the company is considering a potential sale of its lubricants business, Castrol.

Defense giant BAE Systems, which declined sharply in early trades despite reporting strong 2024 results, recovered subsequently, and was up marginally a little while ago.

HSBC Holdings is up by about 0.35%, recovering from early weakness. The lender posted full-year revenue of $65.85 billion, slightly lower than $66.1 billion in 2023.

National Grid, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Shell and Marks & Spencer are gaining 0.3 to 1%.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed consumer price inflation rose more than expected to a 10-month high in January, with the index logging a 3% rise in the month, following December’s 2.5% increase. This was the fastest growth since March 2024. Prices were forecast to climb 2.8%.

On a monthly basis, the CPI edged down 0.1%, in contrast to the 0.3% increase in December. Economists had forecast a monthly drop of 0.3%.

Excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, core inflation rose to 3.7%, in line with expectations, from 3.2% in the previous month.

Another data from the ONS showed that output prices rebounded in January after falling for four straight months. Output prices gained 0.3% annually after a 0.1% drop. At the same time, the annual fall in input prices slowed to 0.1% from 1.3% in December.

On a monthly basis, output prices grew 0.5%, offsetting December’s 0.2% fall. Meanwhile, input prices advanced 0.8%, faster than the 0.2% rise a month ago.

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