The UK consumer price index (CPI) inflation rose to 2.2% in July from 2.0% in June, marking the first acceleration since December. However, this was below the expected 2.3%. On a monthly basis, prices declined by 0.2% in July. This was the first rise of the year, though it fell short of the 2.3% some City forecasters had braced for. The modest uptick was primarily due to gas and electricity prices not plummeting as dramatically as they did last year. The CPI is aligning with the Bank of England’s official target for the second month in a row.

This follows a positive performance on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 1.0%, the S&P 500 by 1.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite by 2.4%. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index fell by 0.6%.

In corporate news, Aviva, the insurer, has managed to outshine profit forecasts for the half-year, thanks to higher premiums. Operating profit hit a robust £875 million, a 14% increase, leaving the £830 million forecast in the dust. To sweeten the deal, Aviva also bumped up its interim dividend by 7% to 11.9p per share. 

AstraZeneca announced that its Lynparza and Imfinzi combination has been approved in the EU for treating mismatch repair proficient advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. Balfour Beatty reported a pretax profit of £112 million for the six months ended June 28, up from £82 million a year earlier. Revenue increased to £4.7 billion.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph is undergoing negotiations for a new owner after a failed takeover attempt by Redbird IMI. Potential buyers include a consortium led by Nadhim Zahawi, hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, and UK media group National World.

Key economic events to watch include eurozone unemployment, GDP, and industrial production data, as well as EIA crude oil stocks, but it's the US CPI that everybody's awaiting.

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