Tuesday,03 December 2024 16:58:18

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Tuesday,03 December 2024 at 16:56

UK and European markets traded higher with investors keeping an eye on political upheaval in France after Prime Minister Michel Barnier turned to special constitutional powers to pass a contested budget bill without a parliamentary vote.

Opposition parties on both the left and right say they will back a no-confidence vote to bring Barnier’s minority government down.

Wall Street's main indexes were subdued in choppy trading after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched record high levels in the last session, with focus on a crucial jobs report later this week along with more data and commentary from Federal Reserve officials.

Oil prices rose as investors await an OPEC+ meeting expected to rubber stamp continued output cuts while a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon provided additional support.

Gold prices are firmer in early U.S. trading as the key outside markets are in a mildly bullish posture for the precious metals.

In corporate news, AT&T has announced plans to distribute $40bn to shareholders over the next three years as it pursues targets to expand America's largest fibre network to 50m total locations by 2029.

As part of its 2024 analyst and investor day presentation later on Tuesday, the US telecoms giant unveiled a multi-year strategic plan focused on continued 5G and fibre subscriber growth.

Also, Analysts at Berenberg raised their target price on Direct Line Insurance from 215.0p to 270.0p following Aviva's non-binding 250.0p per share offer for the group.

Berenberg said Aviva's takeover bid showed there was "clear interest" for the company from the UK's largest insurer. However, Direct Line's response that the offer was "opportunistic "made it believe that management sees "a clear path" to the execution of its strategic plan and that this may be potentially quicker than first planned.

Markets

At the close

FTSE 100 8,359 +0.56%

FTSE 250 20,892 +0.60%

DAX 20,035 +0.51%

At 16:55

Dow Jones 44,605 (-0.39%)

S&P 500 6,037 (-0.16%)

NASDAQ 19,416 +0.07%

Fixed Income

UK 10-YR YIELD 4.247

Exchange Rates

GBP/USD 1.267

GBP/EUR 1.204

Commodities

Gold $2,647 +0.35%

Brent $73.66 +2.48%

Important - No news or research item should be construed as a recommendation to trade. The inclusion of securities within this report does not necessarily imply their suitability for individual portfolios or situations in respect of which further advice should be sought. Information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable but is not warranted to be accurate or complete.