London stocks open muted ahead of Fed rate decision; Entain slumps

British wage growth soared and employment jumped in the three months to April, raising expectations of more rate hikes from the BoE. A separate report showed British economic output inched higher as expected in April.

UK's main stock indexes were subdued at open on Wednesday ahead of a crucial policy decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve, while investors assessed the growing likelihood of persistent rate hikes by the Bank of England.

The resource-heavy FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% as of 0709 GMT, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 midcap index was up 0.1%. British wage growth soared and employment jumped in the three months to April, raising expectations of more rate hikes from the BoE.

A separate report showed British economic output inched higher as expected in April. Data on Tuesday offered optimism, signalling U.S. consumer prices rose modestly in May, boosting bets that the Fed will hit the brakes on its rate-hiking cycle on Wednesday.

While miners were the worst hit, down 1.3%, a 2.7% rise in Aston Martin on a Jefferies rating upgrade to "hold" from "underperform" boosted automobile stocks . Gaming company Entain dropped 10.2% on plans to buy Poland's STS Holdings for 750 million pounds ($945.90 million).