London pre-open: Stocks seen higher ahead of eurozone PMIs

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks were seen opening higher on Wednesday as investors eyed PMI data in the eurozone and US as well as the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve for an indication on where interest rates may be heading. The FTSE 100 was expected to open 0.29% higher after a strong Tuesday session where shares kicked off 2023 with a 1.4% gain. Sentiment was slightly tempered by a fall in US shares overnight.

There was no major corporate news to drive trade, but the latest British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ tracker, revealed that food inflation rose to 13.3% in December, from 12.4% a month earlier.

The BRC warned 2023 would be "another difficult year for consumers and businesses as inflation shows no immediate signs of waning".

"Retailers will continue to work hard to support their customers and keep prices low. However, further high investment in prices may no longer be viable once the government's energy bill support scheme for business expires in April," said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

In equity news, low-cost airline Ryanair reported a 21% rise in passenger numbers for December as travel rebounded from the Covid pandemic.

Ryanair said it carried 11.5 million passengers compared with 9.5 million a year earlier. On a rolling basis, Ryanair said 160.4m passengers flew its routes in 2022, up 121%.

The December load factor was up 11% to 92% year on year.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com