Thursday,05 December 2024 16:57:21

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Thursday,05 December 2024 at 16:53

UK & European stocks closed higher, with French markets in focus after Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government was toppled in a vote of no-confidence Wednesday.

Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start following solid gains in the previous session.

Gold prices steadied as investors held back from placing big bets ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory as markets awaited this year’s final policy-setting meeting.

Oil prices climbed slightly after OPEC+ decided to delay planned output increase until April 2025 and extend the full unwind of production cuts by a year until the end of 2026.

In corporate news, shares in Frasers Group nosedived as the UK sportswear and fashion retailer lowered full-year profit forecasts, citing weaker consumer confidence leading up to and after the government's recent Budget and a tougher trading environment.

The Sports Direct owner now expects adjusted pre-tax profit for the 2024/25 fiscal year of £550m-600m compared to prior guidance of £575m-625m. Interim profits were down 1.5% to £299.1m on the same basis. Shares in the company slumped 13% in London trade.

Revenue fell to £2.49bn from £2.7bn in the six months to October 27.

Markets

the close

FTSE 100 8,349 +0.16%

FTSE 250 21,001 (-0.02%)

DAX 20,366 +0.67%

16:55

Dow Jones 44,900 (-0.25%)

S&P 500 6,084 (-0.04%)

NASDAQ 19,743 +0.04%

Fixed Income

UK 10-YR YIELD 4.289

Exchange Rates

GBP/USD 1.275

GBP/EUR 1.206

Commodities

Gold $2,633 (-0.59%)

Brent $72.36 (-0.18%)

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.