Government plans to sell £297bn of bonds this fiscal year, the second-highest on record

On the stock markets, European share pulled back in early trading after chunky gains yesterday, and are now flat to slightly lower.

Europe’s premier index, the Stoxx 600, edged down after hitting a two-week high yesterday following a newspaper report suggesting that US president-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in a couple of weeks, may opt for less aggressive tariffs on US imports than threatened in November. He later denied the report.

UK’s FTSE 100 index down 0.4%

Germany’s Dax up 0.04%

France’s CAC up 0.36%

Italy’s FTSE MiB down 0.37%