Market Report

London stocks were little changed as investors continued to mull the implications of US President-elect Donald Trump’s new tariffs.

A sell off in some of the world’s largest technology stocks weighed on US stocks, while the latest economic data suggests that the Federal Reserve will be cautious about cutting interest rates. The Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, increased 2.8% from October last year.

Gold prices rebounded from a more than one-week low hit in the last session, supported by a softer dollar, even as easing geopolitical tensions, which would typically dampen gold’s safe-haven appeal, failed to curb its momentum.

Oil prices held steady on Wednesday as markets evaluated a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah while also anticipating Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting, where the group could delay a planned increase in oil output.

The U.S. dollar fell to a one-week low against its major peers as investors grew cautious about President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff pledges while rebalancing their portfolios before the end of the month.

In market news:

Low-cost airline easyJet reported a surge in full-year profit and boosted its dividend on strong summer holiday demand and a narrowing of winter losses as it swerved some of the problems faced by its rivals.

Pets at Home tumbled after cutting its full-year outlook, highlighting that the retail market growth has been subdued for longer than it expected as consumers have remained cautious in recent months