(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Tuesday, following a long bank holiday weekend and news that UK shop price inflation decelerated further in August.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 5.2 points at 7,343.78 on Tuesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 4.95 points, or 0.1%, at 7,338.58 on Friday.

UK shop price inflation decelerated further in August, data showed on Tuesday, presenting some "better news for consumers".

According to the latest British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ tracker, the annual shop price inflation rate cooled to 6.9% in August from 8.4% in July. This was below the three-month average of 8.0% and the lowest rate since October 2022.

Food inflation slowed to 11.5% in August from 13.4% in July, while non-food inflation remained at 4.7%.

On a monthly basis, shop prices rose 0.5% in August, following a 0.1% decline in July.

"Better news for consumers as shop price inflation in August eased to its lowest level since October 2022. This was driven by falling food inflation, particularly for products such as meat, potatoes and some cooking oils. These figures would have been lower still had the [UK] government not increased alcohol duties earlier this month," said BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson.

In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.6%.

The Shanghai Composite was up 1.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.1%. Chinese stocks extended Monday's gains after China's regulators decided to slash the tax paid on stock trades for the first time since 2008, and pledged to slow the pace of initial public offerings, which typically suck up market liquidity.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2625 early Tuesday, higher than USD1.2571 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at USD1.0823 early Tuesday, higher than USD1.0783 late Friday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY146.47, up versus JPY146.27.

In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%.

Gold was quoted at USD1,925.32 an ounce early Tuesday, higher than USD1,906.88 on Friday. Brent oil was trading at USD83.76 a barrel early Tuesday, higher than USD83.57 late Friday.

The local corporate calendar on Tuesday has half-year results from distribution services company Bunzl and cryptocurrency miner Argo Blockchain.

It will be a data-heavy week in the US, with a gross domestic product reading on Wednesday, the Fed's preferred inflationary gauge on Thursday and the latest jobs report on Friday.

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter

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