This sentiment rippled across European markets, causing the Stoxx Europe 600  to slip by 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 remained flat. Nvidia, the darling of the market and the company investors are betting on to hit the $4 trillion market cap milestone, delivered results that were nothing short of spectacular for its third fiscal quarter, spanning August to October. Sales and net profit nearly doubled year-on-year, reaching $35.1 billion and $19.3 billion, respectively. The demand for Nvidia's graphics cards, which are the lifeblood of AI data centers, is so intense that the company's net margin soared to 55%. Yet, the market remained unconvinced, with shares slipping 2.5% in after-hours trading. The culprit? Short-term forecasts that were a tad too ambiguous for investors' tastes. Nvidia is in the midst of transitioning from its Hopper chips, which have been a goldmine, to the new Blackwell chips.

On the UK front, public sector borrowing climbed to £17.35 billion in October, marking the second-highest level for the month since 1993.

In corporate news, JD Sports posted better gross margins and sales, but cautioned that its annual profit would likely hit the lower end of its guidance range due to choppy trading conditions in October

Online fashion retailer Boohoo appointed Tim Morris as its new independent chair amid ongoing tensions with Frasers Group, which owns just under a third of the company.

Halma, the safety equipment manufacturer, reported a 16% boost in pretax profit and a 13% rise in revenue for the first half of the year.

In other news, reports surfaced that Storm Shadow missiles, courtesy of the UK, were used in Russia's Kursk region. This comes amid recent escalations in the conflict, with the UK reaffirming its support for Ukraine. 

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