FTSE 100 rises as key US inflation gauge shows increase

The FTSE 100 rose slightly on Wednesday, led higher by retail and property stocks, as a gauge of US inflation favoured by the Federal Reserve showed prices rising faster.

London’s blue-chip index rose 16.14 points, or 0.20%, to end the day at 8,274.75.

The gains followed a report that indicated US inflation sped up in October versus a year ago, supporting a more cautious approach taken by Federal Reserve policymakers.

The measure showed consumer prices rose 2.3% in October from a year earlier, the US Commerce Department said.

Kathleen Brooks, of trading firm XTB, said: “US traders can pack up for the Thanksgiving holiday with little to fear at this stage.”

She added that the data “suggests that the Fed is right to tread a careful path when it comes to rate cuts, but it continues to support a gradual easing in Fed policy”.

The data seemed to help the UK index, which rose after the US markets opened, with property stocks including Vistry and LondonMetric in the lead.

It comes after markets reacted poorly to President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China the day before.

At the end of the day in Europe Frankfurt’s Dax index fell 0.18%, while the Cac 40 in Paris fell 0.72%.

In New York, a little while after markets had closed in Europe, the S&P 500 had fallen 0.35%, while the Dow Jones was 0.05% higher.

On currency markets the pound was trading 0.87% higher against the dollar at 1.2682 and was 0.08 up against the euro at 1.1994.

In company news, Just Eat Takeaway said it will abandon its listing on the London Stock Exchange in a bid to cut costs and complexity, in the latest blow to the UK’s markets.

The delivery giant wants its shares to keep trading on the Amsterdam stock market, the city where it is based.

The company said it had considered the impact of having a main market listing in Amsterdam and a secondary listing in London.

It cited the “administrative burden, complexity and costs” associated with keeping its shares in London for its decision to quit, as well as low liquidity and trading volumes of its shares.

Just Eat shares fell 2.89% on the news.

Meanwhile, luxury car maker Aston Martin alerted over profits for the second time in as many months and tapped investors for more cash.

The group revealed plans for the fundraise after the market close on Tuesday as it also warned that underlying earnings would be lower than forecast this year, at between £270 million and £280 million.

Aston had already cut its outlook in September.

Shares in the firm fell as much as 9% at one stage on Wednesday before finishing 5.47% down.

Brent Crude Futures were down 0.14% to 72.22 US dollars at the close of trading.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Airtel Africa, up 5.15p to 105p, Vistry, up 17.5p to 675p, LondonMetric Property, up 4.3p to 194.3p, Marks & Spencer, up 8.4p to 384.3p, and Tesco, up 7.5p to 357.9p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, down 21p to 783.2p, DS Smith, down 12p to 582p, Kingfisher, down 3.1p to 248.8p, Croda, down 43p to 3483p, and Whitbread, down 35p to 2843p.