UK investors trade cautiously ahead of vote on the debt-ceiling deal

The London Stock Exchange reopened this morning after a long bank holiday weekend with the FTSE slightly down. On Friday, stocks rose after news that progress was made during negotiations to raise the US debt ceiling. A tentative agreement was reached over the weekend. The FTSE 100 gained 0.7% on Friday, but was down 1.5% for the week due to disappointing inflation and PMI data.

Investors are trading cautiously today as they await the vote from US Congressman on the tentative deal. Some U.S. Republican lawmakers said they would oppose it.

Among stocks, advertising group WPP jumped 2.8% after it announced a partnership with chipmaker Nvidia to use artificial intelligence to produce advertising content faster and on a larger scale.

Meanwhile, distribution company Bunzl fell 0.9% after it said it has agreed to buy two safety businesses in Brazil and Spain for an undisclosed amount.

 

Things to read today:

Nvidia chief Jensen Huang says AI is creating a ‘new computing era’ (Financial Times)

Could the U.S. Default on June 5? It Depends (WSJ)