The earnings calendar is looking quieter in the last full week of trading before Christmas but there are still a number of companies releasing results.

Much of the market focus will be on the final interest rate decisions of the year from the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

On the company earnings front, Nike will release its first set of results with a new CEO at the helm.

Meanwhile, AI chipmaker Micron's latest results come on the back of news that it secured a $6bn subsidy from the US government.

Investors will be looking at Accenture's earnings to see if the professional services firm is continuing to benefit from the AI boom.

Delivery giant FedEx is also due to report, with markets hoping to see an improvement on the previous quarter.

Iconic sandal maker Birkenstock is due to report its first set of full-year results since it listed in New York more than a year ago.

Here's more on what to look for

UK firms are cutting jobs at the fastest rate in almost four years, according to the latest flash PMI report from S&P Global.

Staffing numbers fell in December, for the third month in a row, as companies react to October’s tax-raising budget.

Firms are choosing not to replace voluntary leavers due to rising employment costs, the report says, such as forthcoming increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

The PMI report shows that there was marginal growth across the private sector this month; its Composite Output Index was unchanged at 50.5, just over the 50-point mark showing stagnation.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:

Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) has hinted that further interest rate cuts are likely in 2025.

Speaking in Vilnius she said that the ECB will cut interest rates further if inflation continues to ease towards its 2% target.

On a trip to mark the 10th anniversary of Lithuania adopting the euro, she said:

The sale of Royal Mail's (IDS.L) parent company to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky has been approved by the government.

The move paves the way for the formerly state-owned postal service provider to pass into foreign ownership for the first time in its history.

The government will retain a so-called "golden share" that will require it to approve any major changes to Royal Mail's ownership, HQ location and tax residency.

Once the deal goes through, Royal Mail will leave the London stock market, 11 years after being floated by David Cameron’s coalition government at a value of £3.3bn.

Announcing the agreement, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said it was evidence of the government's commitment to "working towards ensuring a financially stable Royal Mail with protected links between communities other providers can't reach".

Kretinsky said the talks with the government had "resulted in unprecedented commitments and undertakings that demonstrate the high regard EP Group has for Royal Mail".

"EP Group is a long term and committed investor with a mission to make Royal Mail a successful modern postal operator with high quality service and products for its customers," he added.

The latest research by Lomond has revealed that the vast majority of homebuyers are planning to house hunt right up until, and through, the Christmas period, in hopes of beating the spring stamp duty relief deadline.

Lomond commissioned a survey of current homebuyers on their plans to purchase and how the government’s failure to extend current stamp duty relief thresholds had impacted these plans.

The survey found that: -

• 93% were hopeful of completing their planned purchase by 31 March next year, with current stamp duty relief thresholds expiring the day after (1st April 2024).

• Such is their hope of completing in time, that 82% plan to keep house hunting right up to Christmas, with 74% also prepared to carry on their search between Christmas and New Year.

• When asked how far they’re prepared to go, searching online listings for potential properties ranked top, followed by attending viewings, making offers and negotiating, progressing the sale via their solicitors and even moving house if needed.

• It is clear that the hope of a stamp duty saving is driving buyer intent, with 71% also stating that, had an extension been granted during the recent Autumn Budget, they wouldn’t be showing the same urgency and would have now put their plans to purchase on hold until the New Year.

The average price of a UK property coming to the market is down 1.7% this month, or the equivalent of £6,395, with data showing that the typical cost of a home has fallen to £360,197.

Property portal Rightmove (RMV.L), which released this latest set of data, said this fall was in line with the usual December fall.

Despite this month's fall, Rightmove said prices were still 1.4% higher than in December 2023 and were broadly in line with its expectation of 1% growth in prices this year.

Even with the anticipated festive lull, Rightmove found that activity remained much stronger than the same time last year, with the number of sales being agreed up by 22%, while new buyer demand is up by 13%.

Rightmove expected to see a further pick up in activity, in what it said had become the "traditional Boxing Day bounce".

Read more from Yahoo Finance UK

Film production company Canal+ has become this year’s biggest London market listing as its shares began trading this morning.

The international pay-TV company and owner of the studio behind the Paddington film franchise has been spun out of French media conglomerate Vivendi (VIV.PA). However, it is not expected to meet the eligibility criteria for the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) index.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has hailed the floatation as a “vote of confidence” in the UK’s capital markets.

Shares were trading around 252p ($3.19) the morning, down 13.1% from the open.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has surged to a new record high of $106,000. The cryptocurrency's price rise has rallied by more than 50% since Donald Trump's US election victory on 5 November thanks to the incoming administration being more friendly towards crypto than the Biden White House.

Last week, Trump pledged to “do something great with crypto”, to avoid other countries getting ahead of the US on the issue.

Bitcoin has climbed around 4.6% since Friday night, hitting $106,533, and extending its rise over the $100k mark.

Meanwhile, analyst Naeem Aslam of Zaye Capital Markets said:

Stocks in Asia were lower overnight with the Nikkei (^N225) flat on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 0.9% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.2% down by the end of the session with Chinese stocks weak after disappointing retail sales data.

Sales unexpectedly slowed in November, rising 3.0% year-on-year, compares to the 5.0% expected. It marked a sharp slowdown from the 4.8% growth in October.

November industrial production rose by 5.4% from a year ago, accelerating from a climb of 5.3% in the prior month and in line with expectations.

Elsewhere, the Kospi (^KS11) erased its opening gains following the impeachment of [resident Yoon Suk Yeol over the weekend.

It also comes ahead of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) meeting on Thursday in which most economists expect no change. There is only a 16% probability of a hike priced in.

One of the reasons why a hike might wait until January is that MP Ishiba is trying to push a stimulus plan through parliament this month and the BoJ may prefer to avoid political interference and delay the hike.

Across the pond, on Friday, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) ended pretty much unchanged, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.1% higher. The Dow Jones (^DJI) lost 0.2%.

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 all that's happening across the global economy.

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

• 7am: Trading updates: Juke Capital

• 8.15am: European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde gives a speech to mark the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the euro in Lithuania

• 9am: Eurozone flash PMI survey for December

• 9.30am: UK flash PMI survey for December

• 1.30pm: NY Empire State Manufacturing Index

• 2.45pm: US flash PMI survey for December