Closing post
Time to wrap up… (that mulled wine won’t drink itself).
Britain’s stock market has closed near a record high tonight, as the traditional Santa Rally gathers pace.
Shares across Europe touched a new peak.
But there was gloom in UK retail, with sales volumes falling slightly in November despite the Black Friday sales period.
In another blow, the CBI reported that December had begun with a slump in retail sales, leading to downbeat forecasts for January.
UK government borrowing hit its lowest level for a November in four years, but was higher than expected.
