In equity markets, there was no Christmas cheer for Vistry (VTY.L) shareholders as the housebuilder slashed profit guidance yet again, citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions.

The company now expects adjusted pre-tax profit for the year to 31 December to be around £250m, down from previous guidance of £300m.

Vistry said a number of agreements with partners had taken longer to conclude and forecast these to be finished in fiscal 2025. It also pulled a number of proposed deals where the commercial terms on offer "were not sufficiently attractive".

Britzman said: "This marks the group's third profit downgrade of the year, a troubling trend driven by a string of poor management decisions and forecasting missteps that have left investors feeling far from jolly.

"Even a late cash influx in December couldn't light up the season, with net debt now expected to close the year at around £200m — a far cry from the neutral footing investors had hoped for.

"As the year ends on a sour note, Vistry faces a long winter of rebuilding trust, leaving investors with little choice but to mull over their options."

Persimmon (PSN.L), Taylor Wimpey (TW.L) and Barratt Redrow (BTRW.L) were the worst performers on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE).

Thames Water diverted millions of pounds it had pledged for environmental clean-ups towards funding bonuses and investor payouts.

According to the Guardian, secret discussions were held to consider the risk of a public and regulatory backlash against such a move, which could be seen as a breach of the company’s license commitments and leave it open to accusations it had broken the law.

The crisis-hit utility, which serves over 16 million customers in the UK, paid hundreds of thousands in staff bonuses and over £100m to investors as it slashed spending on reducing river pollution.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, reversing the prior session's losses, buoyed by a slightly positive market outlook for the short term, despite thin trade ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Brent crude futures were up 42 cents, or 0.6%, to $73.05 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 38 cents, or 0.6%, to $69.62 a barrel at 0742 GMT.

FGE analysts said they anticipated the benchmark prices would fluctuate around current levels in the short term "as activity in the paper markets decreases during the holiday season and market participants stay on the sidelines until they get a clearer view of 2024 and 2025 global oil balances."

Supply and demand changes in December have been supportive of their current less-bearish view so far, the analysts said in a note.

"Given how short the paper market is on positioning, any supply disruption could lead to upward spikes in structure," they added.

Some other analysts also pointed to signs of a positive outlook for oil over the next few months.

The pound remained slightly above the flatline against the dollar in early European trading on Tuesday, at $1.2541, as market activity remained subdued in the run-up to the Christmas holiday. The pair is still down nearly 7% from its September highs near $1.3400, reflecting ongoing pressure on sterling.

The dollar continues to hold near a two-year high, buoyed by the Federal Reserve's signals that it plans to slow the pace of interest rate cuts in 2025. This hawkish stance from the Fed has provided the greenback with steady support, keeping the pound on the back foot.

In contrast, the pound faces headwinds from the Bank of England's (BoE) recent decision to keep interest rates unchanged, coupled with a dovish outlook that has contributed to a more negative near-term outlook for the GBP/USD pair. The BoE's split vote decision has reinforced concerns about the UK economy's fragility, further undermining confidence in sterling.

Elsewhere, the pound remained flat against the euro (GBPEUR=X), trading at €1.2053, with limited movement in the pair as both currencies were largely range-bound during the light trading conditions.

Vistry (VTY.L) has issued its third profit warning pointing to delays to expected year-end transactions and completions. It also cut its 2024 profit estimate for the third time in three months, sending its shares down 20%.

British homebuilders, which have experienced subdued demand for most of this year, are now under pressure from concerns that interest rates will come down less than markets had earlier anticipated.

In its third profit warning since October, Vistry said it expected an adjusted profit before tax for the year ending 31 December of £250m, down from £300m forecast earlier.

Vistry shares fell to more than a two-year low to 523 pence apiece, making it the biggest loser on the FTSE midcap index.

Brazilian authorities have stopped the construction of a factory for Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD (1211.HK), as workers lived in conditions comparable to "slavery".

The BBC has the details:

More than 160 workers have been rescued in Brazil's north-eastern state of Bahia, according to a statement from the Public Labour Prosecutor's Office, external (MPT).

They were allegedly put in a "degrading" environment and had their passports and salaries withheld by a building company.

BYD said in a statement that it had cut ties with the firm involved and remained committed to a "full compliance with Brazilian legislation".

The factory was scheduled to be operational by March 2025, and was set to be BYD's first EV plant outside of Asia.

The workers, hired by Jinjiang Construction Brazil, lived in four facilities in Camaçari city.

At one such facility, workers were made to sleep on beds without mattresses, according to prosecutors.

Each bathroom was also shared among 31 workers, forcing them to get up extremely early in order to be ready for work.

The stock market will have a shortened Christmas Eve session today, with investors look for a late Santa rally ahead of the festive break.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said:

A number of FTSE 100 (^FTSE) stocks have delivered standout returns this year, buoyed by different factors, which has driven the wider UK market higher.

The UK's blue-chip index is up 5% year-to-date, reaching an all-time high close of 8,445.80 points in May.

The Labour party's landslide victory in July's general election and the Bank of England starting to cut interest rates have both helped boost UK stocks.

However, certain macro economic events have also weighed on the UK market, including Labour's first budget in more than 14 years, with concern about the impact of tax rises on businesses.

The rise in the FTSE 100 is still well behind the 24% delivered by the S&P 500 (^GSPC), though there are a number of UK blue-chip stocks that have beaten that performance on an individual basis.

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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: Vistry Group

• 12.30pm: UK stock market to close early for Christmas

• 1.55pm: US Redbook index of US retail sales

• 3pm: Richmond Federal Reserve

• 3pm: US New Homes Sales