RS Group completes Risoil acquisition, Ryanair passenger numbers rise 21pc

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 17 points higher on Wednesday, having closed up 1.37% at 7,554.09 on Tuesday.

Stocks to watch

RS Group announced that the conditions to achieve completion of its acquisition of Risoul y Cia, as it announced on 10 August, had been satisfied. The company said completion took place on 3 January.

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%.

Newspaper round-up

Food prices rose by a record 13.3 per cent in December, increasing fears that inflation may not fall as sharply in 2023 as central bankers and economists hope. The war in Ukraine led to sustained rises in the cost of animal feed, fertiliser and energy that squeezed supplies as demand rose, according to the latest monthly shop prices index published by the British Retail Consortium and NielsenIQ. It is the highest level recorded since the index began in 2005. - The Times

Commuters will suffer the worst single day of strike action during a working week for decades as just one in 10 train services runs on what is being dubbed “Tragic Thursday”. Children risk missing their first day back at school since the Christmas holidays as the country’s train network grinds to a halt under strike action by drivers' union Aslef. - Telegraph

British Gas owner Centrica has expressed “profound concern” over the financial resilience of some of its competitors in the domestic energy market and has written to Citizens Advice to ask for support in its efforts to protect consumers. Centrica’s group general counsel, Raj Roy, has written to the charity’s chief, Dame Clare Moriarty, to voice concerns over the regulator Ofgem’s recent consultation on the financial health of energy suppliers. - Guardian

Apple is worth $1 trillion less than a year ago after the technology group’s market value fell to just shy of $2 trillion following a sustained technology rout that has dented shares in the world’s largest publicly quoted company. Apple, which started 2022 as the first business to clinch a stock market valuation of more than $3 trillion, began this year as the last to drop out of the $2 trillion club. - The Times

Guardian staff will be forced to work from home for at least another three weeks as the newspaper struggles to recover from a cyber attack. Journalists have been told they will not be able to return to the company's offices in King's Cross until at least Monday, Jan 23 – more than a month after the company's systems were crippled by hackers. - Telegraph

US close

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Tuesday as market participants continued to search for direction in 2023.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.03% at 33,136.37, while the S&P 500 lost 0.40% to 3,824.14 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.76% weaker at 10,386.98.

The Dow closed 10.88 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session

Stocks registered losses on Tuesday after major indices wrapped up 2022 with their worst full-year performance since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. The Dow Jones saw out the year 8.8% lower, while the S&P 500 shed 19.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended 2022 33.1% weaker.

In focus on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund's managing director Kristalina Georgieva cautioned that 2023 would be a tough year for the global economy as the US, China, and Europe all battle with weakening economic output.