Popular airline makes gains and gold shines as markets stay calm in response to budget
By Daniel Binns, business reporter
The FTSE 100 is up slightly this morning, as the markets continue to respond positively to the chancellor’s budget this week.
Retailers will also be hoping for a boost today, as shoppers take advantage of Black Friday offers.
The calm this morning has also been helped by US markets closing yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Derren Nathan, of Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “The FTSE opened up around 0.25% this morning, taking it about 2% higher than when the week started, with the chancellor delivering what was widely seen as a fiscally responsible budget.
“Gilt yields remain below where they were on Monday, a sign of growing trust by those who lend to the Treasury.”
Shaan Raithatha, an economist from Vanguard, adds: “Market reaction has been measured so far, with gilt yields edging lower and sterling modestly firmer, reflecting improved fiscal credibility.”
One of the top gainers this morning is easyJet, which is up around 2%, after the budget airline reported better-than-expected profits earlier this week.
Gold strength
In the commodities markets, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst from Swissquote, notes that gold is gaining again amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve in the US will cut interest rates next month, coupled with lower US yields.
She adds: “That’s good because gold is acting as you would expect, shrugging off the impact of the speculative moves of late summer.”
Meanwhile, motor trade body the SMMT reported this morning that UK car production was down nearly a quarter last month, with 59,010 vehicles rolling out of factories – 18,474 fewer than in October 2024.
It blamed the ongoing impact of the cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover at the end of August, which caused disruption to production.