The number of Christmas shopper in Britain dropped by 2.6% over the weekend, according to data from market research company Springboard.

Lloyds Bank said responses for its monthly business confidence survey in the week up to December 10th weakened when the spread of the Omicron variant accelerated in Britain, with sentiment down to 32%, at levels not seen since the spring and summer.

In other news, the Office for National Statistics reported that British public borrowing fell to 136 billion pounds, down by almost 116 billion pounds in the same period of 2020. This is still around three times higher than pre-pandemic.

After yesterday’s big drop, the FTSE 100 bounced back 0.7% this morning, as investors look for bargains. Among stocks, Schroders PLC is up 2.1% after it announced it has reached an agreement to buy a 75% shareholding in Greencoat Capital Holdings for 358 million pounds.

 

Things to read today:

Supply chains: companies shift from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’ (Financial Times)

As Inflation Rises, Antitrust ‘Reformers’ Target Lower Prices (WSJ)