Closing post
Time to wrap up….
The UK economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 0.3% in November despite uncertainty around Rachel Reeves’s budget, official figures show.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday showed the improvement, up from a 0.1% fall in October.
Forecasters had expected a more modest 0.1% expansion. The better-than-expected data will be good news for the chancellor, who hopes an economic turnaround will help Labour’s fortunes.
Economic output earlier in 2025 was hit by the cyber-attack on the carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, which depressed vehicle production. The company’s recovery appears to have contributed to November’s growth, with a 25.5% improvement in motor vehicle manufacture during the month.
Regulator Ofwat is investigating South East Water after repeated outages since November left tens of thousands of households and businesses across Kent and Sussex without drinking water.
News of the probe came as The Guardian revealed that David Hinton, the chief executive of South East Water, is in line for a £400,000 long-term bonus regardless of his performance, if he stays on until July 2030.
Donald Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on certain AI chips, such as the Nvidia H200 AI processor and a similar semiconductor from AMD called the MI325X, under a new national security order released by the White House.
A company linked to financier Lex Greensill “failed to act in good faith” by lending £250m more than it should have to businesses owned by steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta during the pandemic, the high court has been told.
FTSE 100 ends day at closing high
Britain’s stock market has ended the day at a new closing high.
The FTSE 100 index has closed at 10,238.94 points, having hit a new intraday high of 10,250 during the day.
The better-than-expected UK GDP data seemed to lift the mood in the market today.
Neil Wilson, Saxo UK investor strategist, writes:
There’s actually been some good news today (!) as the British economy grew more than expected in November – though ironically it could be that people were just spending a lot on accounting and tax advice ahead of the Budget - monthly GDP data should always be taken with a pinch of salt. Even better news is that gilt yields – borrowing costs for the government – keep falling as markets bet on weaker inflation and more cuts by the Bank of England, albeit they have ticked up a tad today on the GDP print. I don’t think this print will change the narrative much as it’s about much more than just a few bps of growth here and there.
Markets seem relieved that fiscal policy is a bit more certain after the chancellor raised her headroom in the Budget. Lower gilt yields mean of course more headroom and scope later on to cut taxes, should the government seek to win an election again.
On the other hand, the construction sector is having its worst slump in more than two years with output down more than 1% in the three months to November.
