Today's Closing Update

US Stocks were little changed as the long-awaited tax bill was all but assured of becoming law, allowing investors to take a breather after a month-long rally in anticipation of the largest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in 30 years.

 

European shares dropped for a second straight day, with some pre-holiday profit-taking kicking in even as the U.S. made a huge leap forward in approving its highly anticipated tax reform.

 

The IMF has cut its UK economic growth forecast, blaming Brexit uncertainty. The Fund expects growth of 1.6% this year, down slightly from its previous forecast of 1.7%. It expects growth to slow further next year, to 1.5%. IMF chief Christine Lagarde said uncertainty over the Brexit deal was causing UK firms to delay investment plans. She also said rising inflation, caused by the fall in the pound, and stagnant wages were squeezing spending power.

 

BT Group awaited further detail from the UK government following its decision to adopt a more hard-line regulatory approach to rural broadband roll-out on Wednesday after rejecting BT’s offer to do so on a commercial basis. The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport confirmed that universal high speed broadband – defined as services of 10 megabytes per second or more – would be delivered by a regulatory universal service obligation, essentially a “legal right to broadband”, the department explained.

 

BAE Systems has received a $45.3 million contract from the U.S. Navy to modernize the guided missile cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68). The Anzio will undergo six months of work at the company’s shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, the ship’s homeport. The contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $53.1 million.

 

Existing home sales in the States jumped past forecasts last month, rising by the most in nearly 11 years amid strong gains in all regions outside of the West. Total existing home sales increased by 5.6% month-on-month to reach a a seasonally adjusted pace of 5.81m, according to the National Association of Realtors. That followed a slight upwards revision to figures for the month prior, from 5.48m to 5.50m. “Faster economic growth in recent quarters, the booming stock market and continuous job gains are fueling substantial demand for buying a home as 2017 comes to an end,” said Lawrence Yum, the NAR’s chief economist.

 

Oil prices prices firmed, supported by expectations of a fall in U.S. inventories and the continued outage of the North Sea Forties pipeline system.

 

Gold rose for a fourth day as U.S. data showing solid home sales but a fall in mortgage applications pushed the dollar to a two-week low.

Market Close

Market Index Change % Change
UK 100 7,525.2 -18.9 -0.3%
UK 250 20,350.3 +8.8 +0.0%
GER 30 13,057.2 -158.6 -1.2%
FRA 40 5,349.3 33.6 -0.6%
U.S. 30 24,776.86 +22.11 +0.1%
U.S. 500 2,682.2 +0.7 +0.0%
OIL (BRENT) 64.34 +0.54 +0.9%
GOLD 1,264.95 +3.25 +0.3%

UK Risers & Fallers

Company Price Change % Change
Mondi 1874 +47 +2.6%
Rio Tinto 3710 +65.5 +1.8%
Tullow Oil 193.2 +10.4 +5.7%
NMC Health 2738 -114 -4%
British American Tobacco 4920 -75 -1.5%
Sophos 557 -16 -2.8%

Reported Economic Data

Time/Date Previous Forecast Outcome
2:15pm: Bank of England Governor Carney Speaks
4:00pm: U.S. Existing Home Sales 5.48m 5.53m 5.8m
4:30pm: U.S. Crude Oil Inventories -5.1m -3.6m -6.5m

 

 

Sources

 

https://www.digitallook.com/news/international-economic/us-existing-home-sales-jump-past-forecasts-in-november–3040422.html

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42424700

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-weaker-dollar-pushes-gold-higher-for-fourth-day-idUKL4N1OK2SU

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/north-sea-pipeline-outage-lower-u-s-crude-stocks-support-oil-prices-idUKKBN1EE03H

 

https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/TDJNDN_201712203082/europe-markets-european-stocks-ease-as-prechristmas-profittaking-kicks-in.html

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks/us-stocks-wall-st-takes-a-breather-as-tax-bill-nears-passage-idUKL4N1OK46K

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