The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) wavered after the opening bell on Wednesday as it closed out a year of gains on an uncertain note in what is a shortened trading day.

London markets close at 12.30pm today, while some European indices such as Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) are already paused until the 2 January.

London's premier index is more than 21% in the green this year, despite worries surrounding the UK's national growth and macro shocks such as president Trump's trade policies and the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine war. Gains in 2025 look likely to mark the index's best year since 2009.

Market movers

Miners dragged the FTSE 100 lower, reversing yesterday's gains. Fresnillo (FRES.L), Endeavour Mining (EDV.L) and Antofagasta (ANTO.L) were among the top fallers in the index. The index lost 0.1% in morning trade. Over in Paris, the CAC 40 (^FCHI) dipped 0.5%. French equities are also looking at a shortened day of trade. The pound fell 0.2% against the dollar (GBPUSD=X), hitting the $1.343 mark.LIVE3 updates

55 mins ago

Lucy Harley-McKeown

Federal Reserve minutes show division

The Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes showed a division among FOMC members over their decision to cut rates earlier this month. The minutes show inflation must come down in order for additional decreases to occur.

“Most participants judged that further downward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate if inflation declined over time as expected," the minutes said.

Around 84% of bets are on the Fed standing pat at current interest rate levels next month, though traders are about equally split on what the committee will do in March. 56 mins ago

Lucy Harley-McKeown

US stocks struggle in Tuesday trade

US stocks fell slightly on Tuesday, as Wall Street tried to regroup after a tech-led slide in the final stretch of 2025.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 0.2% while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.1%. The blue chip-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed 0.2%.

The major Wall Street indexes fell for a third straight day after Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) led megacaps lower on Monday amid a small rotation out of tech stocks. Traders are reassessing and perhaps taking profits before the end of the year. 1 hr ago

Lucy Harley-McKeown

Good morning!

Happy New Year's Eve!

Markets are in for a short and sharp final session of the year, closing out at 12.30pm, reopening on January 2.

Stock traders in the US have a full day today, but bond trading ends at 2pm. Both stock and bond markets are closed on New Year's Day.

Other than that, and US jobs data at 1.30pm GMT, the diary is pretty empty for economic and financial news.

Let's get to it.

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