LIVE MARKETS-Before the bell: no Santa rally for 2024, FTSE futures dip

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BEFORE THE BELL: NO SANTA FOR 2024, FTSE FUTURES DIP

There was no Santa rally this year, with Wall Street ending the penultimate trading day of 2024 down sharply and futures pointing to another soft session for U.S indices later on.

Likewise, FTSE futures were a touch lower on Tuesday morning, while activity in the hours ahead was likely to remain thin, with most bourses in Europe closing early and others like Frankfurt, Zurich and Milan already shut.

Despite this weaker conclusion for global stocks markets, the year has been exceptional, with a rally driven by optimism over AI and gains that followed the election in November of Donald Trump as U.S. President helping fuel a near-24% surge for the S&P .SPX index.

The initial enthusiasm over the victory of Trump seems, however, to have cooled in these last few sessions, ahead of him taking office on Jan 20. Treasury yields have remained elevated, dampening investor sentiment just before 2025 starts. The S&P is down over 2% this month.

There were solid gains in Europe too over the year, but performances varied strongly.

Frankfurt's DAX .GDAXI has been the best performer among major European benchmarks, defying the country's economic malaise, up almost 19%. Weakness in luxury plays and political uncertainty instead have dragged France's CAC 40 .FCHI down 3% YTD.

The broader STOXX 600 .STOXX and London's FTSE .FTSE are both up around 5%.

Corporate news was thin on Tuesday.

In the UK, Bunzl started its 2025 share buyback programme, and Wizz Air WIZZ.L said it expects 40 of its planes to stay grounded through fiscal 2026.

(Danilo Masoni)

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