European markets and the FTSE 100 edged higher on Wednesday as investors turned their attention to key US inflation data due later.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose 0.02% to 7,787, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris went up 0.89% to 7,390 points – and in Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) gained 0.37% to 15,655.
Asia and US
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) rose 0.68% to 28,113 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong fell 0.58% to 20,366. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) gained 0.24% to 3,321.67 points.
In the US, Wall Street finished mixed ahead of key CPI inflation data for March.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) rose 0.29% to 33,684 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed flat at 4,108.94 points. The tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) dropped 0.18% to 12,031.
Economic data
In the US, key inflation data will be released today with economists surveyed by Bloomberg expecting March’s consumer price index (CPI) to climb 0.3% from February’s figure, lowering the year-over-year inflation rate to 5.2%.
“This is the week that could tell us that the US consumer is no longer showing resilience and in fact is rather weak; core inflation is making things more expensive, retail sales might show the consumer is tapped out, and the banks might paint a picture that American savings accounts are down and credit card debt is skyrocketing,” Edward Moya, an analyst at OANDA, said in a note to clients.
Read more: Inflation data expected to show continued signs of cooling in March
Bank earnings
It’s also a big earnings week for banks, including JPMorgan (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citi (C) – with all three due to report their first-quarter results on Friday.
The three banks were part of a consortium last month that injected some $30bn in deposits into First Republic to shore up the struggling lender.
Tina Teng, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “Higher interest income is expected for the banks specialising in lending, such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. However, the outlook may stay gloomy due to the bank crisis in early March. The risks will be upon reduction in deposits, increase in loan loss provisions, and decline in the capital markets.”
Read more: Bank stocks to watch ahead of earnings reports
Oil prices
Meanwhile, US crude oil, or West Texas Intermediate (CL=F), gained 0.12% to $81.63 a barrel, while Brent crude (BZ=F) also went up – by 0.15% to $85.74 a barrel.
British pound
In currency news, the British pound fell slightly against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) – down 0.01% to 1.24, meaning £1 will get you $1.24. Against the Euro, the British pound (GBPEUR=X) also fell – by 0.04% to 1.13.
Watch: Wall Street ends mixed as inflation data comes into focus
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