FTSE prepares to slide despite British pressure to approve vaccine – live updates

Ggood morning. Reports indicate that the FTSE 100 is set to decline at the open despite the UK’s push to approve a Pfizer vaccine this week.

It is also an important day on the main streets as The Arcadia Group’s 13,000 employees across 550 stores await news about the fate of the business.

5 things to start your day

1) Fears That Arcadia could be a “Carillion of Retail” with suppliers staying on the hook for £ 250mMoreover, Representatives have called for Sir Philip Green to use his wealth to increase the pension fund, which faces a deficit of up to £ 350m.

2) Lifeguards land at EasyJet to deal with debt: The low-cost airline is struggling with more than £ 1.4bn in debt and has called in AlixPartners to help forecast cash flow

3) Former Little Chef owner prepares to pounce on bars: RCapital buyout fund is understood to be among the bidders for the 42 sites being auctioned after Stonegate acquired Ei Group

4) Weight Watchers decreases with plans to capture Coaches: The forced closure of workshops through the pandemic has hit the brand

5) Nuclear energy looks to hydrogen in an effort to secure its futureThe global demand for hydrogen is expected to rise over the coming decades – and nuclear plants may have a role in its production

What happened overnight

Global stocks paused to assess a record-breaking month on Monday as the prospect of a vaccine-driven economic recovery next year and more free cash from central banks overshadowed immediate concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

Sentiment was helped by a survey that showed factory activity in China easily exceeded expectations in November, and the country’s central bank was surprised with the help of cheap loans. This resulted in blue stocks rising 1.3% on the day and 7.4% in the month.

The MSCI Global Equity Index rose 13 percent for the month of November, while the S&P 500 rose 11 percent to an all-time high.

Early Monday, the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan fell 0.4 percent, reaching nearly 11 percent on the month in the best performance since late 2011.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4 per cent, but remained 15.4 per cent higher in the month in the biggest rise since 1994.

Is coming today

Interim results: Civitas Social Housing, Discoverie, Draper Esprit, Victoria

Economics: Approval of Home Loans and Lending, Consumer Credit (UK); Unemployment (Japan); Official Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (China); Inflation (Germany, Italy and Spain); Pending Home Sales (US)