Closing summary
Oil and gold prices have risen following the fall of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who has fled to Russia.
You can follow the latest developments here:
Brent crude futures have gained $1.41 a barrel, or 2%, to $72.52 a barrel, while US crude futures advanced by $1.57 a barrel, or 2.3%, to $68.77 a barrel.
Spot gold, seen as a safe haven, rose by 1.45% and earlier hit a daily high of $2,676 an ounce.
European stock markets are pushing higher while shares on Wall Street slipped. The FTSE 100 index in London rose by 0.65% to 8,362 while Germany’s Dax was flat, France’s CAC climbed by more than 1% and the Italian borsa fell by 0.3%.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both fell by around 0.3% while the Dow Jones was flat.
Rachel Reeves has said the UK will face greater barriers to future trade with the European Union, unless there is an improvement in the trading relationship.
Since Brexit the EU has developed new regulations that will impose more costs and red tape on companies outside the bloc, such as carbon tariffs on imports known as a carbon-border adjustment mechanism, to new rules on recycling plastic packaging.
Speaking to journalists ahead of a meeting with eurozone finance ministers today, the first of its kind since Brexit, the chancellor said:
I am not denying that there are barriers [to trade with the EU], and there will be greater barriers in the future, unless we improve our trading relationship with the European Union, which is exactly why I’m here.
She also said that reopening the debate about joining the EU’s single market and customs union would not be good for the country or the economy.
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care! – JK
Updated
Volkswagen workers issue ultimatum and warn of strike escalation
Volkswagen workers said the German carmaker’s management has one last chance to compromise on Monday – or risk strikes on a scale not previously seen by the company, as talks began in a bitter standoff over pay cuts and factory closures.
VW staff downed tools at nine German sites which are under threat, while thousands of workers marched waving flags and blowing whistles to a square to listen to union leaders in Wolfsburg, where the carmaker has its headquarters, Reuters reports.
The latest negotiations come as Europe’s largest carmaker seeks ways to slash costs in Germany to better compete with cheaper Asian rivals that have entered its home market.
Last week’s strikes at VW‘s four carmaking factories cost Volkswagen just under €40,000 euros a minute, a source close to the company told Reuters.
Around 38,000 workers went on strike for four hours in Wolfsburg from the early and middle shifts alone, with the late and night shifts still to follow, the IG Metall union said.
The strikes are already more widespread than the last round of major industrial action at VW in 2018, when more than 50,000 workers went on so-called “warning strikes” over pay at six sites. “Warning strikes” are flagged in advance and of limited duration.
VW‘s management must signal their readiness to make bigger concessions on factors including their own pay and the dividend for unions to take forward negotiations this year, a source said.
Union IG Metall chief negotiator Thorsten Gröger said
Today, the workforce is taking a stand in the form of a nationwide warning strike.
The New Year’s Eve fireworks will be followed by an escalation that this company has never experienced before.
Gröger said management had “one last chance” to get back on track and find a solution this week or next. In the 1970s, a last-minute agreement over pay disputes was reached the night before strikes were due to begin.
