Tesla set to boost Wall Street
Diageo slides on U.S. sales miss
FTSE 100 up 0.2, FTSE 250 adds 0.4

Jan 26 Reuters London39;s main stock indexes edged higher on Thursday, tracking an upbeat mood on Wall Street following quarterly numbers from U.S. electric carmaker Tesla, while investors weighed mixed UK earnings ahead of key central bank decisions next week.

The bluechip FTSE 100 rose 0.2, while the midcap FTSE 250 index added 0.4.

Futures tipped Wall Street indexes to open higher after Tesla slightly beat Wall Street targets for fourthquarter revenue and profit.

There is increased risk appetite this morning, partly thanks to strong results from Tesla which is lifting U.S. futures and European equities, said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.

Investors will also focus on a slew of central bank decisions next week for clues on the ratehike trajectory. Signs of cooling inflation have recently spurred hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will switch to smaller rate hikes.

The rhetoric around rate hikes whether for the Fed, the ECB or the BoE is that 2022 was a year of aggressive rate hikes and while there is more to be done, we are entering a new phase that could bring about some less aggressive moves, starting with the Fed, said Scholar.

Investors are betting on a 50basispoint rate hike by the Bank of England BoE next week as inflation remains in doubledigit territory. Traders, however, have almost fully priced in a 25 bps rate hike…