FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks rise as traders await Trump-Putin summit

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks were higher on Wednesday as markets started to turn their attention to the summit in Alaska between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday. The pair are set to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, German inflation eased to 1.8% in July, down from 2% in June, the federal statistics office revealed.

The yield on 30-year German government bonds slipped on the back of the news, after hitting a 14-year high on Tuesday.

Analysts pointed to Dutch pension reforms, which are expected to reduce demand for long-dated bonds, and expectations for a big increase in German government spending as the main reasons behind Tuesday’s sell-off.

The final reading matched preliminary data previously released by the statistics office, with the figures representing German consumer prices harmonised to compare with other European Union countries.

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The July inflation rate marks a continued moderation in price pressures across Europe’s largest economy, with the rate now falling below the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2% target.

London’s benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.2% higher in early trade. Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.6% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.3% into the green. The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.4%. Wall Street is set for a positive start as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green. The pound was 0.3% up against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.3544.

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LaToya Harding

German inflation eases to 1.8% in July

German inflation eased to 1.8% in July, down from 2% in June, the federal statistics office revealed on Tuesday

The yield on 30-year German government bonds slipped on the back of the news, after hitting a 14-year high on Tuesday.

Analysts pointed to Dutch pension reforms, which are expected to reduce demand for long-dated bonds, and expectations for a big increase in German government spending as the main reasons behind Tuesday’s sell-off.

The final reading matched preliminary data previously released by the statistics office, with the figures representing German consumer prices harmonised to compare with other European Union countries.

The July inflation rate marks a continued moderation in price pressures across Europe’s largest economy, with the rate now falling below the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2% target 24 mins ago

LaToya Harding

Asia and US overnight

Stocks in Asia were pushed higher overnight with the Nikkei (^N225) rising 1.3% on the day in Japan to another record high, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) soared 2.5% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.5% up by the end of the session. In South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) added 1.1% on the day.

However, there was some bond market weakness in Japan this morning, as their 5-year auction had its weakest demand ratio since 2020, and the 5-year yield is up 2.9bps this morning. That comes as PPI inflation was also a bit stronger-than-expected overnight, only falling back to 2.6% year-on-year in July, compared to the 2.5% expected.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 1.1% at an all-time high after the US CPI print raised expectations for a Fed rate cut next month. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 1.4% higher and the Dow Jones (^DJI) also gained 1.1%.

Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank said:

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LaToya Harding

Coming up

Good morning everyone, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy today.

To the day ahead it’s a quiet one on the calendar, but central bank speakers include the Fed’s Barkin, Goolsbee and Bostic, and earnings releases include Cisco.

Here's a snapshot of what's on the agenda:

7am: Trading updates: Balfour Beatty, Beazley, CLS Holdings, Hill & Smith, Persimmon 9am: IEA Oil market report 12pm: US MBA Mortgage Applications 3.30pm: US Crude Oil Inventories

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