Business
What Budget rumours are doing to the FTSE 100
Banking stocks gave the FTSE 100 a lift on Tuesday amid rumours that the sector will be spared a tax hit in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 74.62 points, 0.8 per cent, at 9,609.53.
The FTSE 250 ended up 205.83 points, 1.0 per cent, at 21,617.41, and the AIM All-Share closed up 4.93 points, 0.7 per cent, at 742.09.
High street lenders Lloyds Banking Group rose 3.8 per cent, NatWest Group climbed 3.7 per cent and Barclays advanced 2.4 per cent.
It came as the Financial Times said that Ms Reeves is unlikely to impose further tax hikes on UK banks, calming fears that they could be hit.
The chancellor will deliver the budget statement to Parliament around 12.30pm on Wednesday, after Prime Minister’s Questions.
It is likely to contain further hefty tax increases as Ms Reeves looks to cover the expected fiscal deficit and seek a higher buffer against future economic shocks.
An extension to the freeze on personal tax allowances, a mansion tax, increases in betting duties, and changes to salary sacrifice schemes are all likely to form part of a smorgasbord approach to tax policy.
But economists are less sure that this scatter-gun approach is the right path to follow.
Citi’s Callum McLaren-Stewart called the smorgasbord approach “politically palatable, but economically problematic”.
Kallum Pickering at Peel Hunt said a “haphazard patchwork of smaller anti-growth tax increases” would be a “bad outcome”.
Ahead of the budget, the pound was quoted higher at US$1.3183 at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, compared to $1.3104 on Monday.
The yield on the UK 10-year gilt was down by 5 basis points at 4.49 per cent.
Reports also suggest that the chancellor may announce a stamp duty holiday for new listings on the London Stock Exchange.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s Emma Wall said this would be a “welcome boost” for the UK stock market which has been “losing out” to New York for initial public offers in recent years.
Currently, investors have to pay 0.5 per cent stamp duty tax when they buy shares, but this is expected to be waived for new listings for up to three years.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.8 per cent, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.0 per cent to the good.
Stocks in New York were mixed after Monday’s stellar gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7 per cent, the S&P 500 index was up 0.2 per cent, but the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2 per cent.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.01 per cent, narrowed from 4.05 per cent. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.65 per cent, trimmed from 4.69 per cent.
After the data vacuum caused by the American government shutdown, investors weighed a hefty batch of new figures on the health of the US economy.
Reports were mixed with US producer price growth steady year-on-year in September, while a retail sales rise was tamer than forecast on-month.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, producer prices rose 2.7 per cent on-year in September, in line with August’s rise and meeting the FXStreet-cited consensus estimate.
Separately, the Census Bureau reported US retail sales rose 0.2 per cent in September from August, shy of the FXStreet-cited forecast of a 0.4 per cent rise. In August, sales rose 0.6 per cent from July.
In addition, a report from the Conference Board showed consumer confidence in the US weakened in November, hitting its second-lowest level since April.
The CME FedWatch tool now places an 83 per cent chance of a quarter-point cut at December’s Federal Reserve meeting.
The data weighed on the dollar. The euro stood higher at $1.1569 on Tuesday, against $1.1525 on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at 156.13 yen compared to 156.91 yen.
Back in London, Beazley fell 9.2 per cent as analysts said a planned US$500 million investment to build out a new Bermuda platform will mean a “material” step down in share buyback expectations.
The Lloyds of London insurer announced the news alongside mixed trading results in the first nine months of 2025.
But RBC Capital Markets said the “key new news” was the $500 million capital to be set aside to set up in Bermuda.
Beazley said the investment supports growth from 2026 onward and “supports our expansion into the alternative risk transfer market”.
But UBS thinks this puts a share buyback at the year-end “at risk”, and if there still is one, it could be of a lesser amount than the broker’s US$700 million estimate.
Faring better, Kingfisher rose 6.0 per cent after raising profit guidance for the second time in three months.
The DIY retailer, which owns the B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama and Brico Depot brands, now expects full-year adjusted pretax profit between £540 million to £570 million.
In September, Kingfisher upgraded its profit outlook to the “upper end” of the previously guided range of £480 million to £540 million.
On the FTSE 250, AO World jumped 1.5 per cent as it raised its profit forecast after reporting “continued positive trading”.
The Bolton, England-based consumer electronics seller in September upped its profit view to a £45 million to £50 million range.
Since then, AO World said it has seen “continued positive trading”, and it now expects pre-tax profit “around the top” of the outlook range.
But Baltic Classifieds slid 2.2 per cent as JPMorgan double-downgraded it to “underweight” from “overweight”.
The broker thinks online classifieds players will have to “materially” increase their efforts to maintain their gatekeeper position by delivering “undisputable, top-notch, now AI-driven search experiences and relevant information to compete with GenAI agents and new aggregators”.
Brent oil was quoted at 61.71 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, down from $62.90 late on Monday.
The oil price fell amid reports that Ukraine has agreed to the terms of a peace deal with US representatives, although additional reports suggested Russia may block any modified plan.
Gold was quoted at 4,132.40 dollars an ounce, up against $4,097.64.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Airtel Africa, up 19.2p at 314.80p, Kingfisher, up 17.5p at 309.9p, Burberry, up 52.5p at 1,168.5p, Barratt Redrow, up 15.5p at 393.9p and Lloyds Banking Group, up 3.3p at 90.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Beazley, down 79p at 781p, Intertek, down 278p at 4,592, Pearson, down 21.8p at 985.2p, BAE Systems, down 31p at 1,621p and Compass, down 41p at 2,408p.
Wednesday’s economic calendar has the UK budget, the Beige Book in the US and an interest rate call in New Zealand overnight.
Wednesday’s UK corporate calendar has half-year results from property developer Helical, equipment hire firm Speedy Hire, and celebration cakes retailer Cake Box.
Business
Stock Market Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty Hit Record Highs; Bank Nifty Climbs 60,000 For The First Time
Stock Market News Live Updates: Indian equity benchmarks opened with a strong gap-up on Monday, December 1, touching fresh record highs, buoyed by a sharp acceleration in Q2FY26 GDP growth to a six-quarter peak of 8.2%. Positive cues from Asian markets further lifted investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex was trading at 85,994, up 288 points or 0.34%, after touching an all-time high of 86,159 in early deals. The Nifty 50 stood at 26,290, higher by 87 points or 0.33%, after scaling a record intraday high of 26,325.8.
Broader markets also saw gains, with the Midcap index rising 0.27% and the Smallcap index advancing 0.52%.
On the sectoral front, the Nifty Bank hit a historic milestone by crossing the 60,000 mark for the first time, gaining 0.4% to touch a fresh peak of 60,114.05.
Meanwhile, the Metal and PSU Bank indices climbed 0.8% each in early trade.
Global cues
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Monday as traders assessed fresh Chinese manufacturing data and increasingly priced in the likelihood of a US Federal Reserve rate cut later this month.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are now assigning an 87.4 per cent probability to a rate cut at the Fed’s December 10 meeting.
China’s factory activity unexpectedly slipped back into contraction in November, with the RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI by S&P Global easing to 49.9, below expectations of 50.5, as weak domestic demand persisted.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.6 per cent, while the broader Topix declined 0.86 per cent. In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 0.30 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.31 per cent.
US stock futures were steady in early Asian trade after a positive week on Wall Street. On Friday, in a shortened post-Thanksgiving session, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.65 per cent to 23,365.69, its fifth consecutive day of gains.
The S&P 500 rose 0.54 per cent to 6,849.09, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 289.30 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 47,716.42.
Osmond ChiaBusiness reporter
Getty ImagesSouth Korea’s largest online retailer, Coupang, has apologised for a massive data breach potentially involving nearly 34 million local customer accounts.
The country’s internet authority said that it is investigating the breach and that details from the millions of accounts have likely been exposed.
Coupang is often described as South Korea’s equivalent of Amazon.com. The breach marks the latest in a series of data leaks at major firms in the country, including its telecommunications giant, SK Telecom.
Coupang told the BBC it became aware of the unauthorised access of personal data of about 4,500 customer accounts on 18 November and immediately reported it to the authorities.
But later checks found that some 33.7 million customer accounts – all in South Korea – were likely exposed, said Coupang, adding that the breach is believed to have begun as early as June through a server based overseas.
The exposed data is limited to name, email address, phone number, shipping address and some order histories, Coupang said.
No credit card information or login credentials were leaked. Those details remain securely protected and no action is required from Coupang users at this point, the firm added.
The number of accounts affected by the incident represents more than half of South Korea’s roughly-52 million population.
Coupang, which is founded in South Korea and headquartered in the US, said recently that it had nearly 25 million active users.
Coupang apologised to its customers and warned them to stay alert to scams impersonating the company.
The firm did not give details on who is behind the breach.
South Korean media outlets reported on Sunday that a former Coupang employee from China was suspected of being behind the breach.
The authorities are assessing the scale of the breach as well as whether Coupang had broken any data protection safety rules, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said in a statement.
“As the breach involves the contact details and addresses of a large number of citizens, the Commission plans to conduct a swift investigation and impose strict sanctions if it finds a violation of the duty to implement safety measures under the Protection Act.”
The incident marks the latest in a series of breaches affecting major South Korean companies this year, despite the country’s reputation for stringent data privacy rules.
SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile operator, was fined nearly $100m (£76m) over a data breach involving more than 20 million subscribers.
In September, Lotte Cards also said the data of nearly three million customers was leaked after a cyber-attack on the credit card firm.
Agency workers hired to cover Birmingham bin strikers will join them on picket lines on Monday, a union has said.
A rally will be held by Unite The Union at Smithfield Depot on Pershore Street, Birmingham, on Monday morning to mark the first day of strike action by agency refuse workers.
Unite said the Job & Talent agency workers had voted in favour of strike action “over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department two weeks ago”.
The union said the number of agency workers who will join the strike action is “growing daily”.
Strikes by directly-employed bin workers, which have been running since January, could continue beyond May’s local elections.
The directly-employed bin workers voted in favour of extending their industrial action mandate earlier this month.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Birmingham council will only resolve this dispute when it stops the appalling treatment of its workforce.
“Agency workers have now joined with directly-employed staff to stand up against the massive injustices done to them.
“Instead of wasting millions more of council taxpayers’ money fighting a dispute it could settle justly for a fraction of the cost, the council needs to return to talks with Unite and put forward a fair deal for all bin workers.
“Strikes will not end until it does.”
Stock Market Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty Hit Record Highs; Bank Nifty Climbs 60,000 For The First Time
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