FTSE dips as inflation surges; Cineworld plunges over 30%

UK's FTSE 100 dipped on Wednesday after data showed consumer prices jumped to their highest in 10 years ahead of a Bank of England meeting, while Cineworld tanked after a court ordered the company to pay $957 million in damages to a rival.

UK's FTSE 100 dipped on Wednesday after data showed consumer prices jumped to their highest in 10 years ahead of a Bank of England meeting, while Cineworld tanked after a court ordered the company to pay $957 million in damages to a rival. The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.1% at 0808 GMT, with commodity-linked stocks weighing on the index.

Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell declined about 1% each, as crude prices fell on growing expectations that supply will outpace demand next year. Industrial miners tumbled 1.2%. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has put the central bank in a double-bind, with investors no longer expecting the BoE to raise rates as early as Thursday despite UK reporting a higher-than-expected inflation in November.

UK recorded 59,610 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest since early January, as it faces what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called a "tidal wave" of infections from the Omicron variant. Cineworld plunged 37.7% after a Canadian court ruling that asked it to pay C$1.23 billion ($957 million) to rival Cineplex as damages for scrapping a takeover deal.

British Airways' parent company IAG slipped 0.8% after saying it was in advanced talks with privately held Spanish company Globalia to cancel the acquisition of rival Air Europa.