Stocks rise as investors eye interest rate decisions and economic data

Over in the US, stock futures advanced as investors looked ahead to a flurry of economic data releases due out this week.

Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F), on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) were up 0.5% at the time of writing.

Yahoo Finance UK’s Pedro Goncalves writes:

Gold prices held near their highest level in more than seven weeks on Monday as further US Federal Reserve cut bets and a weaker dollar supported demand.

Gold futures rose 1.2% to $4,381.10 an ounce, while spot gold climbed 1.3% to $4,349.73 at the time of writing.

“Gold is likely to remain well bid into US non farm payrolls, as evidence of labour market slack would keep front end yields capped and the dollar weak, supporting a push toward $4,380 to $4,440 after a firm rebound from the $4,243 support zone,” said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Read more on today’s commodity and currency moves here.

Yahoo Finance UK’s Pedro Goncalves writes:

Tesla shares climbed to the top of Yahoo Finance’s list of trending tickers on Monday as investors reacted to progress in the electric carmaker’s robotaxi programme.

The company has been developing self-driving technology for more than a decade, with the aim of deploying driverless ride-hailing vehicles on public roads. Less than six months after Tesla launched an initial robotaxi service in Texas that included a safety operator in the passenger seat, a black Tesla robotaxi has been filmed driving with no one inside.

The sighting marks a milestone for Tesla’s full self-driving ambitions and suggests the company is moving closer to removing human oversight from its vehicles. Shortly after the video circulated online, Elon Musk confirmed that the vehicle was part of Tesla’s testing programme ahead of a wider rollout.

“Testing is underway with no occupants in the car,” Musk said.

The update follows comments from Musk earlier this month that unsupervised full self-driving was “pretty much solved”, with testing taking place without safety drivers.

Read more here on today’s trending tickers.

In other regulation news, the FCA unveiled plans on Monday to reform the mortgage market.

The City watchdog said that one area of focus for its reforms included first-time buyers and the self-employed, saying that it planned to simplify mortgage rules to allow more flexible products that reflect different working patterns and income levels at different stages of life.

The FCA also said that it planned to review retirement interest-only requirements to make them more accessible and explore ways to improve advice to help people plan for later life. The regulator plans to consult the public on proposed rule changes from early 2026 and have the first changes in place later next year.

David Geale, executive director for payments and digital finance at the FCA, said: “We have worked at pace this year to improve outcomes for customers wanting a mortgage. We’ll use insight from consumers and industry to drive further reforms and rebalance risk – helping to widen access to affordable mortgages to meet the needs of consumers today.

“Reforming the mortgage market can help address the fact that as a society we’re saving too little for later life, yet people have huge wealth tied up in property.”

Cryptocurrency firms will need to regulated by the UK’s financial watchdog from 2027, under new rules announced by the government.

The Treasury said on Monday that new legislation will come into force in 2027, which means that crypto firms will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the same way as other providers of financial products.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Bringing crypto into the regulatory perimeter is a crucial step in securing the UK’s position as a world leading financial centre in the digital age.

“By giving firms clear rules of the road, we are providing the certainty they need to invest, innovate and create high skilled jobs here in the UK, while giving millions strong consumer protections, and locking dodgy actors out of the UK market.

Yahoo Finance UK’s Pedro Goncalves writes:

The average asking price for newly listed properties fell by 1.8% in December, or £6,695, bringing the average to £358,138, as budget-related uncertainty weighed on activity, according to Rightmove.

However, the property site expects the market to rebound sharply over the Christmas period, with a larger Boxing Day surge in searches and new listings anticipated and a 2% rise in new seller asking prices forecast for 2026.

Alongside this optimism, the Bank of England’s (BoE) widely anticipated interest rate cut this week is expected to further buoy the property market. A reduction in rates would likely lead to more attractive mortgage deals, potentially revitalising buyer sentiment.

Financial markets are pricing in a greater than 90% probability that the BoE will announce a rate cut this Thursday, according to Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell. A cut would lower the base rate from its current 4% to 3.75%, the lowest level in nearly three years.

Read more on this story here.

Hello from London.

Vicky McKeever here — gearing up to bring you the economics and markets news of the day.

The spotlight this week is on interest rate decisions and a raft of economic data releases.

Let’s get to it.