Investors cautious as no deal Brexit threat looms; retail sales tumble – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest business and markets news, as Brexit jitters and retail data put investors on edge

• Brexit: Boris Johnson says talks in serious situation' after call with EU chief
• UK retail sales dip in November as lockdown batters high street

3.04pm GMT

2.33pm GMT

Wall Street is open for trading and already the main indexes are hitting record highs

2.29pm GMT

Oil prices are expected to log their seventh straight week of gains today as the Covid vaccine rollout raised hopes that the energy market pick-up was in sight.

Brent crude prices are currently up around 0.3% at roughly $51.66 per barrel.

2.04pm GMT

BREAKING: Sky News is reporting that Next and a US investor are in talks about a bid for Arcadia Group.

EXCLUSIVE: Next, the fashion retail giant, is in talks with the US investor Davidson Kempner about a joint bid to win control of Sir Philip Green's high street empire, Arcadia Group, ahead of a Monday deadline set by the administrator, Deloitte. https://t.co/tr3rbhw5xf

2.01pm GMT

John Lewis is working with the NHS to organise free Covid-19 testing for staff at 40 of its sites - including warehouses and stores - in a pilot scheme that could be taken up by other firms and schools.

Related: John Lewis and Waitrose to launch free Covid tests for staff

1.52pm GMT

The stock market recovery across is proving to be temporary, with the FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX among the only indexes still in positive territory across Europe.

In news that will surprise nobody, the two main issues for markets ahead of the weekend, Brexit and US stimulus, remain unresolved. And while sentiment has cheered positive political headlines on the US side of the pond, the same can't be said for the other side.

It is a pretty important day in US Congress, with government spending authority running out at midnight and Congressional leaders preparing the second-largest stimulus relief package in history.

1.25pm GMT

Lloyds Banking Group has cancelled staff bonuses for 2020 after missing financial targets and suffering a sharp drop in profits during the Covid crisis.

The bank told staff across its Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland brands on Thursday that it was making an early announcement on bonuses in light of the challenging economic outlook, having already suffered an 85% drop in profits to 434m over first nine months of the year.

Given our expected levels of profitability for 2020, we are unable to pay Group Performance Share (or bonus) awards to our people for this year. This decision on bonuses in no way reflects the hard work and commitment our people have made throughout this extraordinary year to keep our businesses operating strongly and to provide support and help to our consumer and business customers.

12.35pm GMT

British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands profited from child labour, exploitation and dangerous conditions on tobacco farms in Malawi, according to a legal claim launched after a Guardian investigation.

The British firms, which reported combined earnings of 12.5bn last year, should compensate 7,020 children and adults who work in their supply chain, according to documents filed at the high court by the law firm Leigh Day.

12.06pm GMT

Wall Street bank JP Morgan says the odds of a Brexit deal have actually risen from 60% to 70% since the start of the week.

Our sense is that the likelihood of a deal has moved up from the 60-40 we had as the week began, and we now mark that up to 70-30.

In our view, solutions to all of the issues listed above which both sides would be able to live can be designed, even if the process of getting to them is difficult.

11.32am GMT

US future are pointing to a flat open on Wall Street this afternoon:

Closing above 30,300 last night, the Dow Jones currently doesn't have much pencilled in for this afternoon. It is likely waiting for an update on stimulus negotiations - the deadline was meant to be this evening, but might now be pushed to over the weekend, after disagreements regarding the future of the Federal Reserve's crisis management.

10.48am GMT

The UK's competition watchdog may launch another investigation into the funerals sector after Covid passes, saying it still has serious concerns" about a lack of transparency across the industry.

The warning comes as the Competition and Markets Authority today released provisional conclusions to its investigation, which was first launched in March 2019.

We've found a number of issues in the Funerals sector.

Our package of remedies will support people when choosing a funeral director or crematorium and place the sector under greater scrutiny.

Read the final report: https://t.co/jbzb0wHk77 pic.twitter.com/OmSTLGC03K

10.11am GMT

The BT subsidiary Openreach is to hire more than 5,000 engineers to accelerate the rollout of next-generation full-fibre broadband across the UK, my colleague Mark Sweney writes.

Openreach, which controls most of the UK's broadband network, is investing 12bn to connect 20m homes and businesses by the end of the decade. About 2,500 of the new roles will be at Openreach and 2,800 will be created at its construction partners.

Related: Openreach to hire 5,000 engineers to bolster broadband rollout

9.42am GMT

Catching up on data this morning, the Ifo business climate index shows morale among German businesses unexpectedly rose in December despite new Covid lockdown measures.

The survey came in at 92.1, marking an improvement on 90.9 in November.

Companies were satisfied with their business situation. They are looking at the first half of the year with less scepticism. But the lockdown is hitting some branches hard, The German economy as a whole is showing its resilience.

Therefore, the higher Ifo reading probably tells us more about the news and the rolling out of the vaccine, rather than the new lockdown measures.

9.14am GMT

Full story: Retail sales fell by 3.8% in November on the previous month as the coronavirus lockdown in England and restrictions elsewhere in the UK shut much of the high street.

Ending a six-month run of rising sales, the figures revealed the impact of the pandemic on the sector as the infection rate increased across the country.

Related: UK retail sales dip in November as lockdown batters high street

8.59am GMT

The shift to online shopping has helped cushion the blow of lockdown for the wider UK retail sector.

ING's developed markets economist James Smith explains:

All things considered, the fact that UK retail sales (ex fuel) fell by only' 2.6% in November is pretty remarkable. This means that despite lockdowns across most of the UK, the level of spending is still higher than where it was in August, and comfortably above its pre-virus level.

Unsurprisingly though, this solid aggregate performance masks huge shifts in spending patterns beneath the surface.

8.49am GMT

European stocks have reversed their losses since the open, with nearly all major indexes now trading in the black:

8.40am GMT

Bitcoin prices are steadily rising and continue to hit new record highs.

Earlier this week, Bitcoin made headlines for surpassing the $20,000, but quickly topped its record after reaching $23,000 on Thursday.

8.26am GMT

And could it actually be...the final countdown?

BREXIT: EU'S BARNIER SAYS VERY LITTLE TIME LEFT, FEW HOURS pic.twitter.com/JyUPcLPBws

8.26am GMT

Sterling is taking a hit this morning, down nearly 0.5% against the US dollar at 1.3517 as Brexit jitters continue to weigh on the pound.

8.04am GMT

And we're off! European markets are open for trading and here's how initial prints are looking:

7.52am GMT

Asian stock markets slipped overnight.

The Nikkei edged lower by 0.16%, the Hang Seng slumped 0.9% while over in Shanghai stocks fell nearly 0.3%.

European Opening Calls:#FTSE 6530 -0.32%#DAX 13647 -0.15%#CAC 5529 -0.37%#AEX 623 -0.31%#MIB 21997 -0.07%#IBEX 8128 -0.31%#OMX 1880 -0.29%#STOXX 3551 -0.28%#IGOpeningCall

7.48am GMT

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business

Bad news for the UK high street this morning, which suffered a 3.8% month-on-month slump in retail sales as the national lockdown forced stores to close their doors in November.

November showed a strong rate of decline following a period of recovery in the aftermath of the initial impact of the pandemic https://t.co/IIg5K7VkBB pic.twitter.com/KhXfTXOHE3

We welcomed substantial progress on many issues. However, big differences remain to be bridged, in particular on fisheries. Bridging them will be very challenging. Negotiations will continue tomorrow."