Wednesday, 19^th December: Besides the Fed being in the spotlight today, UK inflation data was also in the news, as it fell to an annual rate of 2.3% in November from 2.4% in October. Although higher than the BoE target of 2.0%, it is the lowest since March 2017 and was led by cheaper fuel, concert tickets and computer games.

GlaxoSmithKline was the top riser of the FTSE 100 today after the market learnt of the merger of their consumer health business with Pfizer. The merger will create the largest player in the market of over-the-counter products, and had a positive impact on the share price, which was up around 4.0% in the afternoon at 1,507p.

At the top of the FTSE 250 was 888 Holdings, up more than 8.0% after backing expectations for 2018 adjusted EBITDA. After experiencing a positive first half of the year, which carried on into the second half, and particularly good performance in continental European markets.

Politics went off on a tangent today regarding the “stupid woman/people” row, which put Jeremy Corbyn in the spotlight. Although he firmly suggests he said “people”, alleged ‘lip-speakers’ have said that he did indeed say woman.

The FTSE 100 managed to hold onto gains and reverse yesterdays losses as it closed 0.96% higher at 6766.