the $400 billion man — elon musk makes history becoming the first person with a net worth that surpasses that amount. the clock is ticking in france, with pressure mounting on emmanuel macron to pick a new prime minister, but who can lead such a fractious parliament? and it's been a bumper year for advertising spend with the global industry making more than $1 trillion in revenues for the first time. live from london this is business today, i'm sally bundock. we begin in new york where the champagne was popping on wall street with traders loving these moments when a new milestone is reached. no surprise at all that it's the tech—weighted index the nasdaq that is breaking new ground. shares in big tech companies continue to rally

with the latest inflation report the reason for wednesday's spike. so let's look at the numbers — the nasdaq closing above 20,000 for the very first time — up 1.8% on wednesday and is now up by about one—third in 202a. the s&p 500 added 0.8% and is up more than 27% so far this year. the dowjones industrial average bucked the trend and dipped slightly, dragged by health insurers as us lawmakers introduced a bill seen as crimping their profits. inflation has generally been cooling throughout 2024 — but concerns around the cost of living have been

a hot—button issue. inflation in the month of november crept up slightly to 2.7%, with analysts saying this has given the federal reserve the green light to cut interest rates again next month. fiona cincotta is with city index. the nasdaq seems to be on a roll at the moment?- roll at the moment? what a milestone. _ roll at the moment? what a milestone. as _ roll at the moment? what a milestone. as you - roll at the moment? what a milestone. as you said, - roll at the moment? what a milestone. as you said, a i milestone. as you said, a really impressive year and a very impressive couple of weeks since november as well. we've seen that alphabet, tesla, amazon and meta were the big drivers yesterday. they helped push the nasdaq to that all—time high. just those four tech giants alone gained us$416 billion in market cap. so that sort of goes to highlight the figures that we're talking about here and i mean we've

seen this rally come since trump won the elections at the beginning of november. also we've got seasonality, which is behind us, so we sometimes see that december can be a favourable month for equity. but that doesn't mean it necessarily will be this year but it has been in previous years and then also we've had that inflation data that you mentioned which just seemed to give traders the confidence that they wanted that the federal reserve will go ahead and cut interest rates in the december meeting next week. absolutely. and let's talk about that because the inflation numberjust crept up a little bit to 2.7%, which of course above the fed's target rate, but not so much that it would be a real concern for jerome powell and his team that they would, you know, halt their cutting of interest rates. , ., their cutting of interest rates. ., ., their cutting of interest rates. , ., ., ~ ., rates. exactly that. you know, it was in line _ rates. exactly that. you know, it was in line with _ it was in line with expectations so there were no surprises. we also saw core inflation — so that sort of

discounts more volatile items like food and fuel — remain steady at 3.3%. now, as you point out, these are above that 2% target and we are seeing that cooling of inflation slow but the market doesn't think that there's any reason that the preserve won't be cutting interest rates next week, prior to the data release the market was pricing in around an 85% probability that the fed would cut rates by 0.25%. following the data, that increased to over 95% chance. so as far as the market's concerned, it's a done deal for next week. fik. done deal for next week. 0k. fiona, done deal for next week. 0k. fiona. nice — done deal for next week. 0k. fiona, nice to _ done deal for next week. 0k. fiona, nice to see _ done deal for next week. 0k. fiona, nice to see you. - done deal for next week. 0k. fiona, nice to see you. see you again soon. as the tech stocks climb, so does the net worth of certain tech billonaires. elon musk�*s has surpassed $400 billion for the first time, which is an historic first. michelle fleury was watching all the action in new york.

the richest person in the world just got richer. elon musk now boasts a net worth of $400 billion, making him the first person in history to ever hit that milestone. shares in tesla, his electric vehicle, rose to a new record high on the same day the tech heavy nasdaq index had 20,000 points for the first time in its history. tesla shares have rallied 69% since the election of donald trump but it was a sale of shares at his privately held firm spacex valuing the company at $350 billion that supercharged his wealth. the move boosted the founder's net worth to $439 billion according to bloomberg. last week a delaware judge rejected musk�*s multibillion—dollar pay package but even if it is revoked, he will still be the world's richest person and as musk prepares to lead efforts to streamline government

operations it is perhaps a sign that wealth and power in america have become even more closely intertwined. here in europe, there is a lot going on today. will we hear who will be the next prime minister of france? the pressure is on president macron, who on tuesday gathered political leaders — including socialists, centrists and the right—wing les republicains — in a move to form what he called a "government of national interest". but marine le pen's far—right national rally and jean—luc melenchon�*s left—wing lfi were not invited. michel barnier, who was the prime minister, resigned after he faced a no—confidence vote in parliament over his budget. president macron promissed to name a successor to mr barnier within 48 hours

following his meeting with politicians on tuesday. so who is in the frame? charlotte de montpellier is senior economist at ing economic research. good morning to you, charlotte. so do tell us — what do you think? will we hearfrom president macron today? think? will we hear from president macron today? yeah, he said that _ president macron today? yeah, he said that we _ president macron today? yeah, he said that we will. _ president macron today? yeah, he said that we will. i _ president macron today? yeah, he said that we will. i don't - he said that we will. i don't know, to be honest. because it's very, very difficult. the thing is that there is a really split parliament and they don't seem to agree. i mean macron would like that both the left seem to agree. i mean macron would like that both the left and the right, they go and the right, they go together, in order to nominate together, in order to nominate a prime minister and at least a prime minister and at least to have no motion of no to have no motion of no confidence but right now they confidence but right now they don't agree on that. there was don't agree on that. there was the name of someone from the the name of someone from the centre that was said but centre that was said but apparently won't have the apparently won't have the support of the left and the support of the left and the right and so it's very, very right and so it's very, very

difficult and it seems that there is no way outjust right now so it we may have to wait a bit longer than today. i now so it we may have to wait a bit longer than today.— bit longer than today. i mean president _ bit longer than today. i mean president macron _ bit longer than today. i mean president macron is - bit longer than today. i mean | president macron is exploring bit longer than today. i mean l president macron is exploring a non—aggression pact with moderate parties on both sides but if he does not involve marine le pen and jean—luc melenchon, how will this go forward? how will this progress?— forward? how will this rouress? ., , ., progress? the idea is he would like that both _ progress? the idea is he would like that both the _ progress? the idea is he would like that both the left, - progress? the idea is he would like that both the left, so - progress? the idea is he would like that both the left, so the l like that both the left, so the socialists, and the right, les republicains, would agree for a

socialists, and the right, les rep to icains, would agree for a socialists, and the right, les rep to have ., would agree for a socialists, and the right, les rep to have a would agree for a socialists, and the right, les rep to have a left ld agree for a socialists, and the right, les rep to have a left prime be for a like to have a left prime minister and the right, they would like to have a right prime minister. it's, i mean, basically it seems that the matter of doing a coalition in france is still not there and they still are in a period where they would like to have the prime minister in their own camp and it means that it's very, very difficult to find someone at least who has no aggression and probably... charlotte, briefly if you can, assuming obviously they have to name somebody soon and when that person is assigned to be the prime minister, the first job will be sorting out a budget for france.- job will be sorting out a budget for france. yes. and that in itself _ budget for france. yes. and that in itself is _ budget for france. yes and that in itself is extremely challenging because all sides are so polarised on that issue. yeah, yeah, and the budget is in a bad trajectory right now. deficits compared to gdp is above 6%, probably will be above 6%, probably will be above 6%, probably will be above 6% next year as well. so right now what they will do is

that they will take the budget of 2024 and roll it out in 2025 but of course it's not the good direction so, at some point, the new government will have to decide on expenses and increase taxation and that's, of course, very difficult and it's even more difficult with a coalition so that's also the reason why it's so much of a problem. sure. ., ., ., ., sure. for emmanuel macron to find a prime — sure. for emmanuel macron to find a prime minister _ sure. for emmanuel macron to find a prime minister and - find a prime minister and probably means that we will need to wait a bit more and of course any new prime minister will be... there will be a threat that there is again a no confidence vote.— confidence vote. sorry to interrunt _ confidence vote. sorry to interrupt you _ confidence vote. sorry to interrupt you but - confidence vote. sorry to interrupt you but we've l confidence vote. sorry to l interrupt you but we've got confidence vote. sorry to - interrupt you but we've got to leave it there. thank you so much for your time. from paris to frankfurt, where all eyes will be on the european central bank. the ecb has a lot to consider. inflation has crept up a bit in the eurozone, but the two biggest economies in the bloc

are both grappling with political instability and tough economic challenges. add to that the impact the trump presidency will have when he takes office in the new year. interest rates are expected to be cut today again today by the ecb but what guidance will president christine lagarde give? wei li is global chief investment strategist at blackrock. good morning to you. so, first of all, do you agree with the majority that we will see a rate cut in the eurozone today? that's right. we are expecting 25 basis points of rate cut from the current 3.25% level because the ecb actually hiked more than even the fed, so there is more room for the ecb to cut rates and also in the context of weaker growth, we

are expecting the fresh macroprojections to reflect that as well.— macroprojections to reflect that as well. but given what's auoin on that as well. but given what's going on in — that as well. but given what's going on in germany - that as well. but given what's going on in germany and - that as well. but given what's i going on in germany and france, what will christine laggard say, do you think? i what will christine laggard say, do you think?- what will christine laggard say, do you think? i think that -- lagarde — say, do you think? i think that -- lagarde say- _ say, do you think? i think that -- lagarde say- i— say, do you think? i think that -- lagarde say. i think- say, do you think? i think that -- lagarde say. i think it- —— lagarde say. i think it supports a more dovish message from the ecb today. we think the ecb will be able to cut more in the longer term but in the near term, because of political uncertainty in germany, in france, because of weaker growth in germany in particular and tar risks from the newed a ministers in the us, we think in the near term growth presents a downside risk which is why we expect a dovish message to accompany the rate cut. 0ver message to accompany the rate cut. over the longer term, we think the ecb is likely going to stop at 2% so we have a while to go yet.

how concerned are you about the outlook for the eurozone? we how concerned are you about the outlook for the eurozone?- outlook for the eurozone? we in eauities outlook for the eurozone? we in equities favour _ outlook for the eurozone? we in equities favour us _ outlook for the eurozone? we in equities favour us equities - equities favour us equities over europe because of the relative earnings momentum. but in bonds, because of our expectation for the ecb to go further than the fed, we actually prefer european government bonds, including uk guilts in particular over us —— uk gilts, over our counterparts and it represents better value than us corporate credit. 0verall than us corporate credit. overall we favour bonds in europe, including the uk, but favour equities in the us. interesting. thank you for your time from blackrock.— interesting. thank you for your time from blackrock. thanks for havin: time from blackrock. thanks for having me- _ whatsapp and instagram are back online after a global outage hit several meta—owned apps. some users were unable

to access the apps at all, whilst others reported problems with refreshing their feeds. meta has yet to confirm whether all of its issues have been resolved. the outage has impacted social media users across asia, europe and the us. president—elect donald trump has invited chinese leader xi jinping to his inauguration, according to reports from our us partner cbs news. trump offered xi an invitation in november, shortly after securing victory in the presidential election. it remains unclear if the chinese president has accepted the invitation. trump will become the 47th us president during the ceremony in washington onjanuary 20th. staying with us—china relations and washington has increased tariffs on imports of chinese solar products as trade relations continue to deteriorate between the world's two biggest economies. the new taxes target chinese solar wafers and polysilicon — as the biden administration looks to protect the domestic clean—energy industry from cheaper foreign imports.

the new measures will take effect injanuary. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

let's head to india where we will get their latest inflation numbers later today. prices are likely to have moderated due to lower food costs, but the number will still come in at the upper level of the central bank's comfort band according to a poll of economists from reuters. india's growth has also been slowing down sharply. nikhil inamdar takes a look at what is going on. insta nt instant noodles and even chocolates — indians are cutting down on buying basic things. india's middle class is shrinking says the boss of

nestle india. the country's largest food and beverage company reported its slowest quarterly growth in eight years. it's the same story with other consumer goods companies as well. and that's not good news. consumption makes up some 60% of india's gdp and at 5.4%, the latest figure was a bit of a shocker, a shadow of the 8—plus—per cent growth that india clocked last year. so what's gone wrong? the pent-up demand is _ what's gone wrong? the pent-up demand is gone. _ what's gone wrong? the pent-up demand is gone. there _ what's gone wrong? the pent-up demand is gone. there is - demand is gone. there is regulatory tightening by the rba on up secured lending that has been happening so far, plus incomes haven't really grown much. employment hasn't grown much. employment hasn't grown much. employment hasn't grown much. . much. even india's chief economic— much. even india's chief economic adviser - much. even india's chief economic adviser has i much. even india's chief - economic adviser has raised concerns about wages and employment. he said the staff cost of private listed companies has been coming down and not paying workers enough will end up being

self—destructive for the corporate sector as there won't be adequate demand for their own products. there are other temporary factors driving growth down. g