(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Wednesday, ahead of a key US inflation reading and, and as unemployment data from France came in a notch higher.
Just Eat Takeaway.com NV revealed it has struck a deal to sell Grubhub Inc for USD650 million.
The food delivery application said it has reached an agreement with food-delivery startup, New York-based Wonder Group, valued at USD650 million which will see the firm part ways with the US food delivery platform.
According to the deal, Grubhub is to be transferred with its USD500 million in senior notes, with net proceeds post customary adjustments of up to USD50 million expected.
The deal is expected to complete during the first-quarter of 2025.
Producer prices in Japan grew at a more robust annual pace than expected, numbers showed.
According to the Bank of Japan, producer prices climbed 3.4% on-year in October, picking up speed from a 3.1% rise in September. Annual growth in prices had been expected to slow to 3.0%, however, according to market consensus cited by FXStreet.
France's unemployment rate ticked up a notch in the third quarter of the year, amid more jobless men and young people. The jobless rate was 7.4% in the third quarter of 2024, up from 7.3% in the second quarter. It was the same as in the third quarter of 2023.
The unemployment rate for men increased to 7.6% in the third quarter from 7.3% in the second quarter. For women, the unemployment rate fell quarterly to 7.2% from 7.4%.
The youth unemployment rate, those aged between 15 and 24, increased to 19.7% in the third quarter from 17.9% in the second quarter.
Political tensions within the European Parliament bubbled up, causing lawmakers to push back a vote on confirming top members of the EU's new executive team.
"Political uncertainty is the latest factor to blight the [eurozone], which we can add to a rather long 'laundry list' of other downside risks, including – the potential for inflation to undershoot the ECB’s target; ongoing geopolitical events in Ukraine and the Middle East; the lack of any notable recovery in China; and, the threat of Trump slapping tariffs on the bloc," commented Pepperstone's Michael Brown.
Speaking of Trump, the US president-elect has announced that Tesla chief Elon Musk and fellow ally Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency" group tasked with cutting so-called federal waste.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 12.0 points, 0.2%, at 8,037.77 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed down 1.2% on Tuesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2739, early Wednesday, unchanged from USD1.2739 at the London equities close on Tuesday.
The euro traded at USD1.0611 early Wednesday, higher than USD1.0600 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted higher at JPY155.05 versus JPY154.69.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.9%, the S&P 500 down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 1.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.8%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,606.18 an ounce early Wednesday, higher than USD2,600.40 on Tuesday.
Brent oil was trading at USD71.93 a barrel early Wednesday, lower than USD72.02 late Tuesday.
In Wednesday's corporate calendar, Smiths Group puts out a trading statement and SSE publishes half-year results.
In the economic calendar on Wednesday, as well as the CPI read there is a US monthly budget statement.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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