Previwe
The FTSE 100 is set for a downbeat start, with spread bettors calling London's blue-chip index 33 points lower at the open.
Blame Wall Street, where a rude awakening on inflation sent stocks sliding after hours.
The S&P 500 shed 0.8% and the Nasdaq gave up 1.1% after a survey showed US business activity growing at its fastest clip in more than five years, hardly the cooling the Federal Reserve had in mind.
The real culprit was the bond market: the 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 5.10%, briefly touching levels last seen in 2007, before the financial crisis. Higher yields make equities look a good deal less appealing.
Asia offered little cheer, trading mixed as investors kept one eye on oil and the other on currencies.
Brent crude held above $102 a barrel, still bloated by the war with Iran.
Plenty, then, for London's traders to chew over.
