(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to follow New York and Asia into the green on Wednesday, ahead of a UK inflation print.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 will open up 27.3 points, 0.4%, at 7,665.33 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 23.55 points, 0.3%, at 7,638.03 on Tuesday.

"Yesterday saw another positive session for US markets with the Nasdaq 100 and Dow notching new record highs, while the S&P500 continued to close in on the 4,800 level, as the exuberance from last week continued," said CMC Markets' Michael Hewson.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.7%, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite ended up 0.7%.

The optimism about potential rate cuts in the US continued, helping to drive global equities higher.

Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin entered the debate on the direction of interest rates in the coming year.

He suggested the US central bank would cut interest rates if recent progress on inflation continued in contrast to comments from other policymakers who pushed back more aggressively against rate cut bets.

Still, the dollar recovered slightly against major currencies in early exchanges in Europe.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2715 early Wednesday, down from USD1.2734 at the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro traded at USD1.0959, a little lower than USD1.0972. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY143.74, up from versus JPY143.88.

Due shortly is UK inflation data for November, which is expected to show the headline rate cool to 4.4% annually, according to FXStreet-cited market consensus. Inflation in October dropped sharply to 4.6% from 6.7% in September.

In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 1.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.7%.

Gold was quoted at USD2,041.74 an ounce early Wednesday, slightly higher than USD2,039.44 on Tuesday.

Brent oil was trading at USD79.29 a barrel, up from USD78.81.

In Wednesday's UK corporate calendar there are full-year results from abrdn Diversified Income & Growth, as well as Jersey Electricity. There will also be a trading statement from Petrofac.

On the economic calendar, in addition to UK inflation data, there will be German producer prices and consumer confidence data, and EU construction output.

By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News deputy news editor

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