Proactive Investors - Sluggish start expected in London despite Wall Street gains.
The FTSE 100 is expected to open little changed despite a strong showing in the US on Monday which saw Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Nvidia hit new highs.
Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index down by around 3 points after closing down 7.89 points, 0.1%, at 7,496.3 on Monday.
In a speech on Monday evening, the governor of the Bank of England warned it is "much too early" to say that inflation has been beaten, despite figures last week which showed the prime minister's target to halve inflation had been reached.
Andrew Bailey said that it was both too soon to say that inflation had been beaten and too early to start talking about cutting interest rates.
The speech came ahead of Wednesday’s Autumn Statement which is expected to show the government has more fiscal headroom than previously thought, prompting talk of tax reductions in certain areas.
Elsewhere, the FOMC meeting and third quarter results from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) will provide the main talking points although both occur after the London market close.
ING Economics thinks the FOMC meeting is likely to be less market-moving than usual, given the post-meeting softness in data.
"We have already heard from several Fed officials who have welcomed the direction of the numbers but commented that they want to see more of the same to be sure that inflation is on the path to 2%," the bank pointed out.
In the US on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.6%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.1%.
Back in London and an update from AO World will kick things off on Tuesday.