The FTSE 100 opened higher this morning, after the US markets broke a four-day losing streak.
But data from the ONS this morning showed that UK public sector borrowing hit £22bn in November, storming past City forecasts. The figure is the highest since records began in 1993 and is more than three times the level recorded in November 2021.
Good news for the UK’s tech sector, which is leading its European counterparts having raised £24bn this year and surpassed a value of £1trn according to new research from Dealroom. The UK is the third country to reach the milestone after China and the USA.
Two stories from the US this morning. Elon Musk confirmed he will step down as Twitter chief executive in a post on the site, following a public vote among some 17.5mln users which showed they wanted him gone.
And a £56bn merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard is facing legal challenges from users, who filed a lawsuit in a California federal court. They argue the deal will create a monopoly in the global video games market.
And finally among the small caps, Graphene producer Directa Plus jumped on the news that it signed a “significant contract” with Pigmentsolution, a European distributor of speciality chemicals and ingredients. This morning’s report was written by Josh Lamb and presented by me, Thomas Warner