Early market roundup: Stocks mixed as oil majors, oil prices fall

Stock prices in London were mostly a touch higher on Wednesday morning, as the release of key US inflation and interim Nvidia results were drawing closer; meanwhile oil prices continued to budge.

"US core [personal consumption expenditures, due on Wednesday afternoon UK time] is expected to have remained steady near the 3.3% y-o-y level in July, significantly above the Fed's 2% policy target, and is proving particularly sticky," Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented. "Several inflation metrics – especially the headline figures – eased in July thanks to lower energy prices. And the fact that US crude's latest spike has proved limited gives a certain peace of mind to Fed watchers.

"I am afraid, however, that without peace in the Middle East/Ukraine, the latter may not last."

The FTSE 100 index was down 6.68 points, 0.1%, at 10,879.48. The FTSE 250 was up 30.42 points, 0.1%, at 24,886.47, and the AIM all-share was up 0.89 points, 0.1%, at 816.37.

The Cboe UK 100 was up marginally at 1,082.69, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 21,715.80, and the Cboe small companies was up marginally at 19,075.27.

Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, on Wednesday announced a 4% increase in the energy price cap for the three months from October 1 to December 31, to £1,723 from £1,663. Cornwall Insight had forecast the cap rising to a slightly higher £1,729.31.

"This increase reflects higher wholesale gas prices as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with volatile global gas markets remaining the dominant driver of price changes," Ofgem said.

The new price cap will be the highest in three years, Bloomberg notes.

Accountancy software provider Sage Group led the FTSE 100 laggers, down 2.9%.

Oil majors BP and Shell closely followed, down 2.2% and 1.5%, as oil prices continue to fall. On the FTSE 250, Harbour lost 2.5% and Ithaca, which is set to join the FTSE 100, fell 1.2%.

Brent oil was quoted at USD85.14 a barrel early in London on Wednesday, falling further from USD89.31 late Tuesday.

Iran and Oman's foreign ministers on Tuesday said they discussed a framework for a temporary corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a mine-clearing project.

Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi "discussed a phased framework that could provide a practical and implementable basis for moving forward", a joint statement shared by Oman said. The framework "includes the establishment of a joint temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint project to clear the Strait of mines," the statement added.

Technical negotiations will continue to find a "permanent navigational corridor and future administration of the Strait, as well as a mechanism for information-sharing, traffic management, and the provision of relevant navigational and security services", it added.

Also, Japan plans to provide support for alternative pipelines in the Middle East as it seeks to improve energy security, local media reported Wednesday.

The Nikkei Daily reported that Japan will assist initiatives by Saudi Arabia and other countries to expand and build new routes for crude which bypass the waterway. The government is also expected to call "for maximizing the use of nuclear power", broadcaster NHK said, and provide support for next-generation perovskite solar cells.

Applied Nutrition led the FTSE 250, up 8.4%.

The sports nutrition products company said it now expects full-year adjusted Ebitda to surpass market consensus, which currently forecasts £42.0 million. Its revenue for the year ended July 31 has increased 50% on-year to £160 million, beating consensus of £148.4 million. It also expects both metrics for the current year to beat market guidance.

Coming in second is gold miner Hochschild, up 6.7% after reporting strong half-year results.

Revenue climbed 62% on-year to USD844.4 million, and pretax profit surges to USD365.8 million. The firm also quadrupled its interim dividend to 4.00 US cents per share, and reaffirmed its full-year attributable production target of 300,000 to 328,000 gold equivalent ounces.

Other miners rose, with Antofagasta up 1.7%, Anglo American up 1.2%, and Atalaya up 1.9%.

Gold was quoted lower at USD4,629.61 an ounce against USD4,642.09.

Smaller cap 4basebio jumped 6.4%.

The life sciences company has announced a strategic collaboration and marketing agreement with Genezen, which is said aims to advance synthetic, cell-free DNA platforms.

Meanwhile, Eden Research fell 8.5%.

The pretax loss was £2.9 million in the 15 months to March 31, compared with £2.2 million for 2024. The company had changed its financial year to March 31, from December 31 before. Revenue rose to £4.9 million from £4.3 million, while administrative costs increased to £4.4 million from £3.5 million, while cost of sales increased to £2.6 million from £2.4 million. The developer of biopesticides and formulation technologies for the crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries said its expectations for the current financial year remain unchanged.

In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%.

The pound was quoted at USD1.3636 early Wednesday, up compared to USD1.3632 on Tuesday. Against the euro, sterling declined to EUR1.1678 from EUR1.1683 a day prior. The euro stood flat at USD1.1671. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY159.00, lower compared to JPY159.25.

In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended down 0.4%.

In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.7%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted flat at 4.65%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was also unchanged at 5.19%.

Still to come on Wednesday's economic calendar, alongside PCE the US has gross domestic product data and durable goods orders.

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