Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the global economy.
With the year drawing to a close, attention is starting to shift toward the outlook for 2026. Nationwide has forecast that UK house prices could rise by up to 4% next year, suggesting that conditions for first-time buyers may ease slightly.
In the City, the FTSE 100 is expected to make a firmer start on Monday, as sentiment improves ahead of a widely anticipated interest rate cut from the Bank of England later this week.
Futures indicate the London index will open around 34 points higher, after ending last week at 9,649.03, down 18 points over the five sessions.
Asian markets are largely in negative territory, tracking the losses seen on Wall Street late last week. The Nasdaq fell 1.7%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.1% and the Dow Jones slipped 0.5% on Friday.
This morning, Japan’s Nikkei is down 1.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has fallen 1.5%, while India’s Sensex is hovering just below flat. US futures, however, are pointing modestly higher.
