Bond Market
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks Slip for Second Day, Bonds Steady
marketsClosed Dec 2, 2025
- The FTSE 100 gains as banking stocks rise after passing the BOE’s stress test, while the pound and gilts hold steady in relatively calm trading across markets
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We can be a pretty gloomy bunch here in the UK, but there were a few reasons for (is it too early to say festive?) cheer today.
Firstly price inflation in British shops eased to the lowest level in five years thanks to early Black Friday discounts. And all the UK’s major banks passed the BOE’s stress test, with capital requirements lowered to boost UK lending. Nationwide painted a tentatively more-upbeat-than-we’re-used-to picture of the housing market this morning and later the OECD upgraded its growth forecast for the UK economy in 2026.
Either way, UK markets remained unimpressed and largely beholden to the global narrative of uncertainty and fatigue as gilts and the pound posted small moves.
In stocks there was also little to write home about, though banks understandably had a better day than consumer giants Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser after some negative comments from the finance chief of US peer P&G.
Have a great evening!
