Today's top story: City firms on hiring spree as salaries look set to keep rising
Today's leader: Just Eat faces a tall order – it needs to keep delivering for its investors if it’s to be number one in the £9.9bn takeaway sector
As the first day of December is finally upon us, the FTSE looks relatively quiet in terms of results. This morning the UK's blue-chip index is set to open lower at 7,308, following on from its second successive session of decline yesterday as stocks remained under pressure from a rising sterling buoyed by optimism over Brexit talks.
European markets are also expected to open lower – with the DAX down 27 points and the CAC 40 down 13 – as investors await news of US tax reform. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P indices closed at record highs yesterday as confidence grew that the new legislation would be passed.
But a final vote was delayed late on Thursday night, with lawmakers working through the night to adapt the legislation ahead of a new vote on Friday morning.
Corporate news
- Furniture company DFS has completed the £25m acquisition of Sofology
- Carillion has seen non-executive director Andrew Dougal step down from the board, to be replaced by former Segro finance director Justin Read
Data
- 09:00 – EU Markit manufacturing PMI (November)
- 09:30 – UK Markit manufacturing PMI (November)
- 14:05 – US Fed's Bullard speech
- 14:30 – US Fed Open Market Committee member Kaplan speech
- 15:15 – US Fed Open Market Committee member Harker speech
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CityAM
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