Energy stocks went down along with oil prices, due to worries over global demand.

Today, the FTSE was struggling for direction after the publication of weak economic data from China, where imports dropped 11% in November, while exports fell by 8.7% year-on-year to levels not seen since May 2020.

However, there is still some optimism as the country relaxes its zero-Covid policy. Authorities announced that some asymptomatic and mild cases of Covid-19 can now quarantine at home, instead of having to go to centralized government facilities.

In other news, UK house prices declined by 2.3%  between October and November, according to Halifax, compared to a fall of 0.4% the previous month.

Among stocks, Moonpig Group dropped by almost 7% in premarket trading after posting a decline in earnings for the first six months of its fiscal year. They fell to 5.8 million pounds sterling from 15.4 million pounds for the year-ago period.

 

Things to read today:

This Legoland is a Cautionary Tale as an Era of Easy Money Ends (Bloomberg)

China Scraps Most Testing, Quarantine Requirements in Covid Pivot (WSJ)

House prices fall at the fastest rate since 2008 (Daily telegraph)