Market buzz: FOMC, China tariffs in focus
1700:Close Stocks have finished the session a shade lower, weighed down by Sterling's move back towards its pre-referendum highs against the US dollar ahead of Thursday's MPC meeting.
Buoying the pound was a stronger-than-expected print on average weekly earnings for January.
Miners and Big Oil paced gains on the FTSE 350, with the latter benefitting for a large jump in crude futures after the US Department of Energy reported an unexpected decline in the country's oil inventories during the latest week.
Still ahead, investors are focused on the US central bank's policy announcement later in the day, with the White House potentially set to announce tariffs on roughly $60bn of Chinese goods tomorrow.
1558: Oxford Economics does not expect Moody's to downgrade SA's long-term debt ratings following its review on Friday, allowing it to remain in the Citibank World Global Bond Index.
"Our view is that recent political developments and the content of the 2018 budget will be viewed favourably by the rating agencies [...] This will give South Africa a much-needed window of opportunity to start to deliver on the stated priorities, which should boost confidence and growth and, over time, enable it to address socio-economic challenges. And the environment could improve further."
1409: Here's some valuation footnotes for US stocks, courtesy of BoA-Merrill Lynch.
Trading a shade below 17.0, the S&P 500 is on a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 17 times - its lowest since 2016 , but still 11% above its long-term average. As a group however, technology - the biggest outperformer last year and year-to-date - has seen its multiple increase as price momentum has outpaced earnings revisions, the investment bank says.
It's now trading at an 11% premium to the wider market, its loftiest level since 2009, but remains 4% below its historical average (if you strip out the 16% premium reached during the Tech Bubble).
Energy on the other hand no longer looks "very expensive" versus history in terms of its relative forward P/E multiple, it says. Having de-rated, energy is now at just a 4% premium to its historical average multiple, thanks to the recovery in earnings and as a result of its recent under-performance.
1257: Ocado is on the back foot as Goldman Sachs downgrades it to 'neutral' and removed the stock from its Conviction List as "material" outperformance leaves no upside to its unchanged 12-month price target of 540p.
GS noted the share price has risen around 135% since Ocado announced its agreements with France's Casino last November and Canadian food retailer Sobeys in January to provide them with its end-to-end grocery solution, Ocado Smart Platform.
1220: London stocks had extended losses by midday as the pound gained ground after UK wage growth was shown to have accelerated more than expected at the start of the year, while a profit warning from menswear specialist Moss Bros and disappointing results from B&Q owner Kingfisher meant the high street was very much in focus.
LSE bucked the trend, however, as Barclays upped its price target on the overweight-rated stock by 6%, saying the market is "unduly pessimistic" on 2019 EBITDA margin.
1201: US stock futures are pointing to a slightly lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors awaited the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.
The Wednesday US pre-open report has the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures as down 0.1%, while tech-heavy Nasdaq futures were 0.4% weaker.
The Fed rate announcement is due at 1800 GMT, along with a speech from chair Jerome Powell and the FOMC's economic projections. Before that, existing home sales are scheduled for release at 1400 GMT.
Company news includes disappointing results from food manufacturer General Mills, quarterly numbers from motor homes manufacturer Winnebago, Salesforce, Boston Scientific, Southwest Airlines, while Facebook looks on track for another day of losses in the wake of the latest data scandal with Cambridge Analytica.
1154: Shares in Vectura are down more than 8%, providing a buying opportunity if you believe Jamie Constable at broker N+1Singer.
The inhaled medicine developer announced its preliminary results for the calendar year that were in-line with expectations and emphasise the recently announced shift in strategy in favour of partnered development of inhaled generics. Constable says the the in-market performance of key value drivers Flutiform, Seebri, Ultibro and Experel has been in line with forecasts, and the ongoing trials of VR475 and VR647 are on track, with top-line data expected in the second half of the year. Management made no change in 2018 revenue growth guidance. Singer upgraded to 'buy' in late Feb at 72p and today reiterated their 120p target price.
1145: An interesting small cap story this morning from AIM fintech stock Beeks Financial Cloud. The cloud computing and connectivity provider has agreed to enter the cryptocurrency market through a collaboration with Gemini Trust Company, a cryptocurrency exchange owned by bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Looks one to watch.
1037: Three-month LME copper futures are down from $6,832 per metric tonne as of yesterday's close to $6,732. Analysts at SP Angel cite 3,200 increase (61% this month) in LME stocks to 322,475 on Tuesday as the chief reason for the move in futures' prices.
0935: UK wage growth and employment levels are picking up more than expected, though there may be enough holes in the numbers for the Bank of England to "look through" the data and avoid raising interest rates yet. UK average weekly earnings in the three months to January rose 2.8% compared to the same period last year, which was higher than the 2.6% that economists had forecast and was up the figure from a month earlier, which was revised up to 2.7% from 2.6%.
0849: Wednesday's London open market report has equity markets in London edging lower at the open, with a focus on the high street. The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,047.91, with investors erring on the side of caution ahead of key UK jobs data, with average earnings, the ILO unemployment rate and the claimant count rate all due at 0930 GMT.
In broker note action, 888 Holdings was cut to 'hold' from 'add' by Numis, while Ocado was downgraded to 'neutral' from 'buy' at Goldman Sachs.
0811: A frenzy of retail news this morning, with updates from Kingfisher, Moss Bros, Mothercare, Carpetright and ScS.
A profit warning from Moss Bros is sending its shares down 30% and a "soft" finish for Kingfisher sending it down 6%, while 'sofa-so-good' numbers from SCS were not well received and the shares are down 7%. There's also updates from troubled high street peers Mothercare and Carpetright, both of which are moving higher in early trading.
Elsewhere investors seem unhappy with Softcat, which down 9% on its results, while *surprise surprise* there's yet another volley fired in the GKN-Melrose war of words.
GKN branded Melrose Industries a "novice" operator with "absolutely no plan for the business", in the latest round of accusations between the companies locked in a hostile bid battle.
0755: Last night the main US stock indices all moved higher, with the tech sector still in focus following the latest revelations regarding Facebook but traders attention divided as the Fed sat down to talk interest rates.