This was helped by early Christmas shopping, which also boosted transport and storage. Services accounted for over half of November’s GDP growth, expanding 0.7% month-on-month. Industry and construction grew 1% and 3.5% respectively.

However, this was all before Omicron struck, so December figures will not be as rosy. This is why the FTSE 100 remains flat this morning.

Private equity group 3i Group is among the best performers, followed by Berkeley Group Holdings, Barratt Developments, JD Sports Fashion and Associated British Foods. The main fallers include Royal Mail PLC and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. Currys slashed its profits guidance and said the technology market as challenging.

 

Things to read today:

After years of abstraction, things are getting real for markets (Financial Times)

Henry Kaufman, 1970s Wall Street Dr Doom, Blasts Powell on Inflation (Bloomberg)