London stocks were set to rise at the open on Wednesday as investors mulled the latest UK inflation data and looked ahead to the Spring Statement.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 30 points higher at 7,506, taking its cue from positive US and Asian sessions.
Data released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that inflation hit a new 30-year high in February as the cost of living crisis intensified.
In the 12 months to February, consumer prices rose by 6.2%, up from 5.5% in January and marking the highest inflation reading since March 1992. On a month-on-month basis, prices were up 0.8%, which was the biggest monthly CPI jump between January and February since 2009.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said: “Inflation rose steeply in February as prices increased for a wide range of goods and services, for products as diverse as food to toys and games.
“Clothing and footwear saw a return to traditional February price rises after last year’s falls when many shops were closed.
“Furniture and flooring also contributed to the rise in inflation as prices started to recover following new year sales.
“The price of goods leaving UK factories has also been rising substantially and is now at its highest rate for 14 years.”
In corporate news, safety equipment company Halma said it had made “good progress” so far in the second half of its trading year, with the group continuing to benefit from its “diverse portfolio” and “resilient”, long-term growth drivers.
Halma said its strategic qualities, as well the essential nature of many of its products and services, had underpinned “increasing demand” across the group and said it now expects to deliver a “sequential improvement” in revenue during the second half and “substantial revenue growth” in the year as a whole, while full-year adjusted pre-tax profits were seen in line with market consensus estimates.
UK defence company Ultra Electronics reported a rise in annual profits as it awaits a UK government decision on whether US buyout specialist Advent can take over the firm.
The company posted a 1.8% increase in underlying pre-tax profit to £116.6m as its order book rose 22.2% to £1.3bn.
Advent International and UK ministers have been negotiating over a series of pledges as the American outfit tries to get its £2.6bn deal approved.
