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FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks up as UK retailers warn of job cuts due to national insurance rise after budget

Lucy Harley-McKeown
Updated 1 min read

In This Article:

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was up and European indices were lower on Tuesday morning in London, as the reaction to chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget continues to play out.

  • London's premier index rose 0.3% in early trade. 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • Over in Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) fell 0.2% and in France, the CAC 40 (^FCHI) lost 0.1%.

  • The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) rose slightly, ahead of fresh inflation data from the EU due later this morning.

LIVE 9 updates
  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Our full take on Inflation

    Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Breaking: Eurozone inflation returns to 2%

    • Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.0% in October 2024, up from 1.7% in September 2024.

    • Core inflation — a measure that strips out volatile components such as energy — has hit 2.7%.

    • 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).

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    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.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Nvidia chart

    Here's the chart. Nvidia stock is up more than 190% for the year-to-date:

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Nvidia in focus

    Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto writes:

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    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.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    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.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    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.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    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.

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