7.35am: Wages rise, unemployment steady
Wages have risen for the first time in more than a year casting more doubt on potential interest rate cuts in the UK.
Unemployment was unchanged at 4.3% in the three months to October, said the Office for National Statistics, but pay including bonuses rose to 5.2%.
Job vacancies fell again and the number of employees on the payroll fell by 22,000 (0.1%), though employment is still up 160,000.
The ONS has admitted there have been issues with the reliability of its numbers, but said its estimate for November is for a 35,000 fall in payrolled employees.
7.15am : Poor start expected in London
FTSE 100 was tipped to open lower again after yesterday’s 38 point fall.
Financial spread betters were pencilling in a similar fall when markets open today with hopes for a significant Santa Clause rally looking a little forlorn.
Plastics distributables giant Bunzl (LON:BNZL) is among the early reporters and confirmed a £200 million buyback for 2025 when it also expects robust revenue growth, said the trading update.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin’s rise continues, with the price topping US$107,000 as Donald Trump reiterated plans to create a US strategic reserve for crypto similar to its oil holdings.
Bitcoin specialist MicroStrategy being added to the Nasdaq 100 index also helped sentiment for the cryptocurrency said commentators.
5.00am: Unemployment, Bunzl and Hollywood Bowl on agenda
UK unemployment figures are due on Tuesday, while Hollywood Bowl and Bunzl will be among those to update.
Can Hollywood Bowl remain an unlikely bright spot... Read more
Further buybacks are expected by analysts from Bunzl... Read more
Announcements due:
Finals: Hollywood Bowl Group PLC (LON:BOWL)
Trading updates: Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust, Bunzl PLC, Capita PLC (LON:CPI)
Finals: Chemring (LON:CHG) Group PLC
AGMs: Gfinity, GS Chain, Netcall
Economic news: Unemployment (UK), Retail Sales (US), Industrial Production (US)