In contraction territory

Stronger-than-expected US jobs data on Friday dented sentiment on the LSE, as investors fear this could lead the Fed to keep hiking rates for longer. The US economy added 263K jobs in November, compared with expectations of 200k. The FTSE 100 remained flat.

At the open today, the blue-chip index was slightly down, hampered by energy stocks – as oil prices fell.

Business activity data for the month of November remained, as expected, in contraction territory at 48.8 for services.

After last week’s manufacturing PMI, the data shows that Britain’s economy should shrink by 0.4% for the quarter, S&P Global economist Chris Williamson told Reuters.

Among stocks, Vodafone Group gained 2.0% after announcing that chief executive Nick Read will step down from his post on December 31, replaced on an interim basis by Margherita Della Valle, who will also retain her current role as CFO.

 

Things to read today:

Must inflation be brought down all the way to 2%? (WSJ)

Watch Leveraged Loans as Canary in Credit Coal Mine, Traders Say (Bloomberg)

UK Faces Recession and Lost Decade Without Growth Plan, CBI Says (Bloomberg)