London's FTSE 100 recovered some ground in early trades after a difficult Tuesday.
US markets dropped overnight but the Footsie eked out a 16-point gain to 8,211 ahead of big interest rate announcements by the Fed tonight and Bank of England tomorrow.
ONS data this morning showed year-on-year inflation in the UK increased to 2.6% in November from 2.3% in the previous month and potentially another reason for the Bank of England to be cautious, according to commentators.
B&Q owner Kingfisher rose 1% as it sold the loss-making Brico Dépôt Romania business for an enterprise value of €70 million. The transaction includes 31 stores in 24 cities.
National Grid has outlined infrastructure investments of up to £35 billion over a five-year period from April 2026. Some 3,500 kilometres of overhead lines will be upgraded to connect 35 gigawatts of new generation and storage capacity.
Finally, Japanese carmakers Honda and Nissan are reportedly in merger talks to battle competition from Tesla and China’s BYD, according to local reports.
