London close: US inflation and BoJ in focus ahead of Christmas

Stocks edged higher heading into the Christmas holidays with continued concerns around central bank tightening globally put a lid on any festive cheer.

Core consumer price data released overnight in Japan showed prices rose at their fastest clip year-on-year for nearly 41 years.

So who cares? Well, Michael Hartnett at BofA Global believed that inflation at multi-decade highs would see the Bank of Japan shelf its policy of limiting longer-term Japanese government bond yields in 2023, thus putting a higher floor underneath global rates as had so often been the case in the past 30 years.

The FTSE 100 edged up by 0.04% to 7,472.25 while the second-tier index was up by 0.10% to 18,780.50.

Sterling was 0.22% higher alongside at 1.2065 while the US dollar spot index had continued to flirt with so-called technical support at its 50-week moving average throughout the shortened session.

Still ahead, at 1330 GMT the US Department of Commerce was set to publish readings for the personal consumption expenditures price deflators in December.

Consensus was that the annual rate of increase in the core PCE index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, would slip from 5.0% in the month before to 4.6%, versus a target rate of 2.0%.

Worries that the tight labour market would prove a stiff headwind to its price stability goal was behind the Fed's hawkish rhetoric and investors' increasing caution over the past few weeks.

Also due out, at 1500 GMT the University of Michigan would publish its consumer confidence survey for the same month, which included closely followed gauges of inflation expectations.

Financial markets were also keeping tabs on the news-flow around the reopening of China's economy, the rate of infections and the risks - for some observers - of new Covid-19 variants arising.

Bluefield Solar goes shopping Stateside

UK renewables income fund Bluefield Solar has bought a 46.4 megawatt solar portfolio from North America’s Fengate Asset Management.

Bluefield said the enterprise value of the portfolio is £56m, including the economic benefit of all cashflows from May 2022. The portfolio contains £27.3m of long-term amortising debt provided by Australian private equity outfit Macquarie.

Auto distributor Inchcape said Peruvian authorities had cleared its planned £1.3bn takeover of Derco, with completion of the deal expected to take place by the end of the year.

Plastic technology group Symphony Environmental warned on Friday that full-year losses looked set to widen year-on-year as multiple issues weighed on revenues throughout the period. The company said full-year losses were pegged to have widened to £2.5m from £1.4m, with group revenue expected to be approximately £6.5m, down from £9.2m a year earlier, following a "soft first half of the year".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,473.77 0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,828.45 0.35%
techMARK (TASX) 4,372.04 -0.19%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smith (DS) (SMDS) 324.50p 1.72%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,890.00p 1.58%
Centrica (CNA) 96.72p 1.55%
Prudential (PRU) 1,116.50p 1.55%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,249.50p 1.42%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,680.00p 1.28%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 112.80p 1.26%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,587.00p 1.18%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,100.00p 1.06%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,771.00p 0.97%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pearson (PSON) 935.60p -1.06%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,118.00p -0.97%
National Grid (NG.) 989.60p -0.80%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 408.80p -0.80%
BAE Systems (BA.) 855.00p -0.77%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 728.00p -0.75%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,004.00p -0.69%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 518.20p -0.69%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,230.00p -0.67%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,728.00p -0.59%

FTSE 250 - Risers

888 Holdings (DI) (888) 86.75p 4.71%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 69.65p 4.58%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 171.90p 3.74%
Marshalls (MSLH) 277.40p 3.51%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 341.80p 3.33%
Ibstock (IBST) 154.00p 3.29%
ASOS (ASC) 513.00p 3.22%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 750.00p 3.16%
Capricorn Energy (CNE) 258.80p 3.11%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,480.00p 2.99%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Coats Group (COA) 68.70p -5.63%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 185.20p -2.32%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 260.20p -1.89%
Chemring Group (CHG) 293.50p -1.84%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,545.50p -1.81%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 739.00p -1.47%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,478.00p -1.30%
Currys (CURY) 56.00p -1.15%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 4,450.00p -1.11%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 230.20p -1.03%