Wall Street rises but FTSE falls at the start of holiday-shortened week

That’s it from me. Head over to our US site for more market moving news.

The government said on Monday that chancellor Rachel Reeves had asked the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast for publication on 3 March 2026.

“As set out at the budget, the spring forecast will not make an assessment of the government’s performance against the fiscal mandate and will instead provide an interim update on the economy and public finances,” the government said.

“The government will respond to the March forecast through a statement to Parliament, in line with the government’s commitment to deliver one major fiscal event a year at the budget,” it added.

The OBR accidentally published its November economic and fiscal outlook, revealing details of autumn budget policy changes, shortly before Reeves delivered her speech on 26 November.

Our US colleagues write:

Stocks rose to kick off the holiday-shortened week as investors looked to move past a shaky start to December in hopes that a seasonal Santa Claus rally might materialise.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.6% while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) climbed 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) opened 0.4% higher as the major indexes looked to extend their win streak to a third day.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) said on Monday that it had amended its offer for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) to address concerns regarding the bid.

That included Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison’s agreement to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4bn of equity financing for Paramount’s offer.

David Ellison, CEO of Paramount and son of the Oracle CEO, said: “Because of our commitment to investment and growth, our acquisition will be superior for all WBD stakeholders, as a catalyst for greater content production, greater theatrical output, and more consumer choice.

“We expect the board of directors of WBD to take the necessary steps to secure this value-enhancing transaction and preserve and strengthen an iconic Hollywood treasure for the future.”

Paramount launched an all-cash offer, equating to an enterprise value of $108.4bn, in early December. This came after Netflix (NFLX) announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to buy WBD for a total enterprise value of $82.7bn.

Paramount shares were up 3% ahead of the US market open, while WBD shares climbed nearly 4%.

Shares of FTSE 250-listed (^FTMC) Rank Group (RNK.L) were down 8.5% at the time of writing on Monday, after the gambling company said that its Spanish businesses had been the victims of payment fraud.

Rank said that the incident in its Enracha and Yo businesses totalled €7.1m and that it had reported the matter to the relevant law enforcement agencies.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Better known for its bingo halls in the UK, it is a more obscure part of the business which has tripped Rank Group up.

“While the sums involved in the payment fraud at Rank’s Spanish operations are not immaterial the share price reaction likely also reflects some uncertainty about whether this will prove to be a more extensive issue for the company.”

In the US, stock futures rose on Monday morning at the start of the holiday-shortened week.

Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were up 0.5% at the time of writing, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) gained 0.3%. Meanwhile, Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) edged 0.1% higher.

Yahoo Finance UK’s Pedro Goncalves writes:

Gold broke through the $4,400 an ounce level for the first time, hitting $4,417.53, as expectations of US interest rate cuts and strong demand for safe-haven assets fuelled a fresh rally.

Gold futures rose 1.3% to $4,442.70 an ounce, while spot gold climbed 1.6% to $4,412.23 at the time of writing.

Analysts attributed the move to growing expectations of further US rate cuts, alongside heightened geopolitical risk after US president Donald Trump and senior aides declined to rule out military conflict with Venezuela. The US has intensified its oil blockade against Venezuela, increasing pressure on the government of president Nicolás Maduro.

Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said the gains were driven by “last week’s softer-than-expected US inflation and jobs reports, which reinforced expectations for two 25bp Fed rate cuts in 2026”.

He added that the rally was also supported by geopolitical tensions after Trump announced a “total and complete” blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia appeared to stall.

Read more on today’s commodity and currency moves here.

Yahoo Finance UK’s Pedro Goncalves writes:

Shares in GSK (GSK.L) slipped in London trading after the drugmaker became the latest large pharmaceutical group to sign up to the US government’s “most favoured nation” drug pricing regime in exchange for an exemption from tariffs.

The London-listed company said it had reached a voluntary agreement with the US government to cut the cost of prescription medicines and widen access to treatments for millions of Americans, as pressure intensifies on global drugmakers over pricing, tariffs and domestic investment.

GSK said the deal covers medicines used by more than 40 million US patients with respiratory conditions such as asthma and meets all four actions requested by Trump in a letter sent to drugmakers in July.

Under the agreement, the company will lower prices for certain medicines supplied through Medicaid and commit to launching new products in the US with a more “balanced” pricing approach.

GSK will also make most of its portfolio available through a direct purchasing platform, offering savings of up to 66%.

Read more on today’s trending tickers here.

In addition to a slowdown in UK economic growth, data released by the ONS on Monday showed that the households’ savings ratio fell to 9.5% in the third quarter, down from 10.2% for the previous three months.

The ONS said that the decrease was driven by a fall in the contribution of non-pension saving.

Hi! Vicky McKeever here — kicking off a shorter trading week as things wind down for Christmas.

Investors will be keeping an eye on the last pieces of financial data and hoping for some further market gains before the festive break.

Let’s get to it.