Here's a look at what's happening in equity markets today...

• Sage Group surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it posted a 21% rise in full-year underlying operating profit and announced a share buyback of up to £400m.

• Severn Trent advanced as it reported a double-digit increase in first-half profits and said it expects capital investment to hit the top end of guidance this year, putting it in a strong position for the next five-year regulatory cycle, AMP8.

• Genus gained as the animal genetics firm said trading has been encouraging and that full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was set to be in line with market expectations.

• Rotork was also in the black after a trading update.

• On the downside, Crest Nicholson fell after the housebuilder said it expected full-year earnings to be at the lower end of guidance due to a higher proportion of affordable homes being delivered.

• British Land also lost ground as it said half-year underlying profit rose just 1% and that its portfolio valuation ticked up just 0.2%.

Gold prices edged lower in early Wednesday trading, losing the positive momentum seen earlier in the week.

The decline was driven by rising Treasury yields and a strengthening US dollar, which weighed on the non-yielding precious metal. Earlier in the week, geopolitical tensions provided some support for gold prices.

Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades, said:

Today's inflation figures have lifted the UK's consumer price index in line with rates across other G20 countries.

Panmure Liberum chief economist Simon French has the graph:

Sticking with the property market...

Private rentals in the UK increased by 8.7% in the year to October, according to the ONS.

This was up from 8.4% in the year to September, but below the record-high of 9.2% set in March.

Nathan Emerson, chief executive at Propertymark, which represents estate agents, said:

Average UK house prices increased by 2.9% in the year to September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The annual growth rate accelerated from 2.7% in the year to August, with the average home worth £292,000.

Average house prices increased in England to £309,000, up 2.5pc, in Wales they increased 0.4% to £217,000, and in Scotland to £198,000, a rise of 5.7%.

The average house price for Northern Ireland was £185,000 between April and June, up by 6.4% from a year earlier.

Owner occupiers’ housing costs have surged at the fastest pace in nearly 33 years as homeowners roll off fixed rate mortgage deals and get hit by higher rates.

In the year to October, costs rose by 7.4%, up from 7.2% in September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This was the fastest annual growth rate since February 1992.

The rise was due to higher mortgage rates as more homeowners lost the protection of their fixed rate deals and rolled onto more expensive deals.

Nicky Stevenson, Managing Director at national estate agent group Fine & Country, said:

Shipping giant Maersk has announced it will no longer use the Port of Felixstowe from next year. It said its use of the Suffolk port would end from February following the "Gemini Co-operation" review of its network.

The firm said it had concluded that the London Gateway on the Thames estuary in Essex was "the most optimal port to serve our customers" in the UK.

It said it expected to share further details "over the next couple of weeks".

In a statement on its website, it said:

Nvidia (NVDA) is set to report after the bell in what is likely to be the biggest event of the week. With a market cap of $3.61tn and nearly as big as the entire DAX and CAC combined, it's going to be a big event.

Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank said:

UK shoppers took 35 million more trips to Lidl, the highest annual growth of any British supermarket, new data showed.

Some 60% of households shopped at Lidl as it continues its streak as the fastest growing bricks and mortar supermarket for over a year.

More recently, the discounter secured 326,000 additional shoppers, more than any other supermarket.

It comes as turnover increased by 16.9%, almost reaching £11bn, along with increased profits. The grocer is accelerating its expansion with 18 new stores set to open in the next few months followed by 40 in next financial year.

Its newest store opened in Bristol last week, exactly 30 years since its first 10 stores opened in the UK.

Ryan McDonnell, Lidl UK chief executive, said:

After inflation rose by more than expected last month, chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said:

The return of inflation above the BoE’s 2% target is likely to reduce the already low chances of another base rate cut in December.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey this week said that any reductions should be gradual. He expressed concern that the national insurance hike announced in the autumn budget could add to inflationary pressures.

“The Bank will monitor the policy’s impact,” Bailey said, with analysts suggesting that employers might pass on the increased tax burden to consumers.

Traders are betting there is just a 10% chance of a reduction in borrowing costs next month, down from a 15% chance on Tuesday.

Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK, said:

Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, said:

Inflation in the UK has surged above the Bank of England’s 2% target, according to official figures, with the rise being driven by a sharp increase in energy bills.

The consumer prices index (CPI) rose to 2.3% in October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed. The jump, which exceeded analysts’ expectations, follows a decline to a three-year low of 1.7% in September.

Economists had anticipated a rise, warning that it was likely driven by higher energy costs after the energy price cap was raised for households in October.

The cap increase saw average household energy bills rise by £149 a year, following a 10% hike by the regulator Ofgem. The new cap for a typical dual-fuel household in England, Scotland, and Wales was set at £1,717, up from £1,568.

Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said:

Services inflation rose from 4.9% to 5% in October, after analysts had expected it to remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, also rose unexpectedly from 3.2% to 3.3%.It had been expected to fall to 3.1%.

Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight with the Nikkei (^N225) slipping 0.2% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) rose 0.2% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.6% up by the end of the session as China's central bank held benchmark lending rates steady as widely expected.

Across the pond on Wall Street on Tuesday, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.4% to 5,916.98, the Dow Jones (^DJI) fell 0.3pc to 43,268.94, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 1% to 18,987.47.

It came as investors looked ahead to earnings results from artificial intelligence darling Nvidia (NVDA).

The world’s most valuable company will report its third-quarter results after the bell. Shares climbed 4.9% on Tuesday and options imply a move of almost 9% in either direction in the $3.6trn stock often seen as a barometer for the tech sector’s shift to AI.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) last held above $93,000, having broken above $94,000 for the first time overnight on expectations Donald Trump’s administration will be crypto-friendly. Investors are also watching Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary, which may come as soon as today.

Meanwhile, in the bond market, the yield on benchmark US 10-year Treasury notes fell to 4.402% from 4.409% late on Monday.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy.

Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today:

• 7am: Trading updates: Sage Group, Argo Blockchain

• 7am: UK Consumer Price Index

• 12:00pm: US MBA Mortgage Applications

• 15:30pm: US Crude Oil Inventories

• 4pm: Bank of England deputy governor Dave Ramsden speaks

• 6pm: European Central Bank vice president Luis de Guindos speaks