FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks down as UK retailers warn of job cuts due to national insurance rise after budget
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The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European indices slid on Tuesday morning in London, as the reaction to chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget continues to play out.
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London's premier index rose 0.3% in early trade before falling 0.4% by lunch. BT Group (BT-A.L) was among the top risers in the index following news that India's Bharti Group completed its acquisition of a 24.5% stake in the telecoms company.
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Retailers have today warned that the government changes proposed in the budget to national insurance contributions (NICs) will lead to difficult decisions, including low pay rises, potential job losses and closed stores.
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Meanwhile, farmers are outside Downing Street, protesting measures proposed in the budget that farms worth over ￡1m will be subject to 20% inheritance tax from April 2026.
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A letter signed by the likes of Tesco (TSCO.L), Asda, Sainsburys (SBRY.L), Boots and Amazon UK said that "the sheer scale of new costs and the speed with which they occur create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty."
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Over in Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) fell 1% and in France, the CAC 40 (^FCHI) lost 1.1%.
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The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was 0.8% lower. European losses come following new data from the Eurozone which showed that the rate of inflation is expected to have ticked up to 2% in October.
DJT <> Bakkt deal?
Shares in Trump Media closed Monday's session up more than 16%, following a Financial Times report that the company is in advanced talks to buy crypto exchange Bakkt (BKKT).
Bakkt stock soared more than 162% in the previous session on the back of the news.
President-elect Donald Trump maintains a roughly 60% interest in DJT, which has a market capitalisation of around $7.1bn (￡5.61bn).
Trump's election win has driven cryptocurrencies higher, with bitcoin (BTC-USD) moving closer to the $100,000 mark, trading at $91,681 on Tuesday morning.
Trump has pledged to usher in more supportive regulation around the digital tokens, saying in his election campaign that he wanted to make the US the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a stockpile of bitcoin.
A spokesperson for Trump Media had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing.
Our full take on Inflation
Breaking: Eurozone inflation returns to 2%
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Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.0% in October 2024, up from 1.7% in September 2024.
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Core inflation — a measure that strips out volatile components such as energy — has hit 2.7%.
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Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, services is expected to have the highest annual rate in October (3.9%, stable compared with September), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.9%, compared with 2.4% in September), non-energy industrial goods (0.5%, compared with 0.4% in September) and energy (-4.6%, compared with -6.1% in September).
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Gold heads higher again
Pedro Goncalves writes:
Gold prices rebounded on after suffering their largest weekly decline since 2021, as traders recalibrated expectations for future US Federal Reserve rate cuts. The outlook for monetary policy has been influenced by the return of Donald Trump to the White House next year.
Spot gold rose 1.3% to $2,621.08 per ounce, while US gold futures edged 0.3% higher to $2,624.10 at the time of writing.
The prospect of Trump’s policies potentially driving inflation has led swaps traders to predict a near 50% chance of a Fed rate cut next month, prior to his inauguration. This could benefit gold, as lower interest rates make the non-yielding metal more attractive.
“Whether the Federal Reserve cuts or not, I think gold technically looks like it wants to get back near that $2,700 level,” Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures, told Reuters.
The pause in the US dollar’s rally, which recently surged to a one-year high before retreating, has also made gold more accessible to investors.
Goldman Sachs, in its 2025 commodity outlook, highlighted gold as a top pick, suggesting the precious metal could see further gains during Trump’s presidency. "Go for gold," analysts led by Daan Struyven wrote in a note.
Nvidia chart
Here's the chart. Nvidia stock is up more than 190% for the year-to-date:
Nvidia in focus
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto writes:
DOJ set to push Google to sell Chrome browser
Big competition news coming out from Bloomberg this morning is that the Department of Justice is looking at forcing Google (GOOG) to sell off its Chrome browser, after a judge ruled in August the tech giant had illegally monopolised the search market.
The report, which cited people familiar with the matter, said officials intend to present a plan to Amit Mehta — the federal judge presiding over the case — to suggest imposing data licensing requirements on other products related to AI and its Android smartphone operating system.
The case was first filed under the Trump administration and continued under Joe Biden.
How US stocks are faring in premarket
Stocks are making small moves in early trade, with indexes looking set to open in the green later on.
Overnight in the US
From our US team:
US stocks were mixed on Monday as Tesla (TSLA) shares resumed a post-election rally and investors looked ahead to Nvidia (NVDA) earnings to test the health of the AI trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.6%, buoyed by a jump in Tesla stock.
Stocks started the week trying to break out of a funk, which saw the S&P 500 reverse around half of its Trump-fueled rally after sharp weekly losses for the major gauges, led by tech.
Signs of a robust economy, combined with comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, have prompted investors to downsize expectations for rate cuts.
Good morning!
Hello from a snowy London. The Yahoo Finance UK team are here, poised to bring you the markets news of the day. Coming up we've got an EU inflation reading and a Bank of England select committee with governor Andrew Bailey.
Over in the US, Walmart (WMT) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) are reporting.
Let's get to it.