FTSE 100 LIVE: European and US markets calm ahead of busy week of interest rate decisions

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. The US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday and the BoE's interest rate decision on Thursday. The FTSE was around 0.1% higher. (REUTERS / Reuters)

• The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European markets were relatively subdued on Monday. The FTSE was flat by the closing bell, while the DAX (^GDAXI) fell 0.2% and the CAC (^FCHI) rose 0.1%.

• The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was trading 0.1% higher by the closing bell.

• The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow (^DJI) were both flat by late-morning, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) as 0.2% higher.

• The moves came after a mixed day of trade in Asia as the Hong Kong high court ordered Evergrande, the world's most indebted property developer, to be liquidated.

• We'll be looking ahead this week to Eurozone GDP data and UK mortgage approvals data from the Bank of England (BoE) on Tuesday, the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision is due on Wednesday and the BoE's interest rate decision on Thursday.

Follow along for live updates:

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER8 updates

Wrapping up

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 11:39 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

That's all from me today! Head to the Yahoo Finance US site for more markets hits.

Lull in stocks

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 10:59 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Here's IG's Chris Beauchamp with an update on stocks before the close:

“Today marks a lull before the calendar heats up with earnings and central bank decisions. As a result, we have seen quiet trading on both sides of the Atlantic. Equity markets have managed to hold on to their recent gains throughout January, but with so much in the calendar between now and Friday, investors are likely to endure a more volatile period.”

The iRobot -- Amazon deal is out

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 10:06 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Amazon's carefully planned $1.acquisition of Roomba maker iRobot has fallen through amid challenges from antitrust regulators in the EU.

Stock was down as much as 18% after markets opened in the US.

Ryanair spat plays out, harms profit

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 5:47 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Ryanair revealed sharply falling profits following a surge in fuel costs and cut its full-year profit outlook after being removed from some online travel agent websites.

The budget carrier reported after-tax profits slumping to €15m (£12.8m) for its third quarter to the end of December, from €211m (£180m) a year earlier.

The Irish airline said the group’s fuel bill surged by 35% to €1.2bn (£1bn), which outweighed a 17% rise in revenues.

Ryanair has told Boeing (BA) that if any US customers refuse to take delivery of 737 MAX 10 aircraft, that it would buy them “at the right price”. Boeing has been mired in regulatory and safety concerns following the Alaska Airlines incident where a fuselage plug blew off an aircraft earilier in January.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, already has 150 firm orders for the MAX 10, the largest jet in the 737 family, and options for 150 more, with the first deliveries due in 2027.

From trending tickers, read more on Alphabet, Evergrande and NatWest here

A boost for UK property

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 4:59 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Our reporter Pedro Goncalves has the latest data from property portal Zoopla:

Property sales and demand across the UK were higher at the start 2024, driven by a return of pent-up demand and mortgage rates dropping below 5%.

Property website Zoopla said new sales agreed were 13% higher in the first three weeks of January than this time last year, when higher mortgage rates hit market activity.

Demand was up 12%, measured by would-be buyers contacting agents to inquire about and arrange viewings for a specific property listed on Zoopla.

Zoopla recorded an annual house price fall of 0.8% across the country in December, with a steeper drop of 2.5% in the East of England.

Read more here

Oil prices highest in two months

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 4:26 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Oil prices were on the up again earlier. Here's Neil Wilson from Finalto with the why:

"Oil prices jumped to the highest in two months after three US servicemen were killed in Jordan by Iran’s proxies, clearly raising the stakes in the Middle East. Certainly we are seeing geopolitical risk premium in crude prices this morning though as ever I’d caution that this is wont to relinquish control as long as nothing else happens to worry traders. But we also had some very bullish inventory data last week."

Having said that, Brent Crude (BZ=F) is actually down 0.2% on the session this morning to trade at around $83.38. Crude (CL=F) is down 0.3%, to hit arond $77.79. Earlier it reached as high as $78.52.

Overnight in Asia

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 3:18 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

The biggest market event overnight seems to have come via China's beleaguered property stock Evergrande, which halted trading in Hong Kong after the high court ordered its liquidation.

Trading was suspended in Hong Kong after it fell about 20%.

By the end of the day, the Hang Seng (^HSI) was up about 0.7%, while the The SSE Composite (000001.SS) fell 0.9%.

Asian traders will be watching China's factory data for January this week.

Over in Japan, the Nikkei (^N225) rose 0.8%, building on gains seen in recent weeks which saw the index touch multi-decade highs. Japanese stocks have been spurred on by policy moves from the Bank of Japan.

Good morning!

Mon, 29 January 2024 at 3:09 am GMT-5, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Good morning, Lucy Harley-McKeown here, today reporting from cloudy Norwich. FTSE 100 (^FTSE) futures are slightly down, but hovering on a flat line this morning ahead of the open after a positive close last week. The DAX (^GDAXI) in Germany is following suit. The CAC (^FCHI) looks flat after finishing more than 2% higher on Friday.

I'll be watching tobacco stocks at the open following a decision by the British government to ban single use vapes.

Let's get to it.

Watch: Chinese property giant Evergrande ordered to liquidate

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