While SpaceX looks to the stars, down on terra firma UK transport company First Group has won a £3bn contract to operate suburban rail services in London.

FirstGroup has been named the preferred operator for London’s Overground suburban rail network, in a contract worth £3bn over eight years.

First Rail London, its subsidiary, will take over operations in May 2026 from Aviva Rail London, which has managed the network since 2016.

Launched in 2007, the London Overground links areas outside central London, and spans 100 miles and 113 stations.

Graham Sutherland, FirstGroup’s CEO, says:

“The London Overground has greatly improved connectivity in London, with around four million passengers now using the service every week.

We are delighted to have been named as the preferred operator for the service from next May and look forward to welcoming employees who will be joining the Group and to play our part in the success of this vital rail network.

The contract commits FirstGroup to some ‘key improvements’, namely:

• an increase in services on the Mildmay and Windrush lines

• supporting TfL’s Vision Zero commitments to deliver a safer transport network

• working with Network Rail, Alstom and other industry partners to deliver continued high performance and passenger satisfaction

• improving the customer experience through investing in information systems, colleague training, enhanced security and better customer information

• continuing to work in partnership with stakeholders to improve accessibility on the network

The European Court of Justice has also supported a ruling over state financing of TAP airline in Portugal.

It dismissed a complaint by Ryanair over the Commisison’s decision to approve restructuring aid of €2.55bn granted by Portugal, a move the Irish airline claimed breached “rescue and restructuring” aid rules.

Ryanair had argued that the Commission had not done its homework and failed to establish whether the post-covid “restructuring plan was realistic, coherent, far-reaching and capable of restoring TAP’s long term viability”.

The aid package was provided in December 2021, nearly two years into the covid pandemic which resulting in the grounding of airlines around the world.

The Commission ruled the funding had constituted state aid, but said this was “complatible with the internal market”.

The International Monetary Fund has revised up its forecast for China’s growth, and also urged Beijing to fix “significant” imbalances in its economy.

In its latest assessment, the IMF predicts China will grow by 5% this year and 4.5% percent in 2026, an upward revision of 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points respectively.

This upgrade is due to “welcome macroeconomic policy stimulus measures and lower-than-expected tariffs on China’s exports,” the IMF says.

The Fund also warned that China’s leaders need to take firmer steps to hit their target of shifting to a consumption-led growth model.

They say:

…this transition requires more urgent and forceful expansionary macroeconomic policies, reforms to reduce elevated household savings, and a scaling back of inefficient investment and unwarranted industrial policy support. Such a policy package will also reduce external imbalances.

Silver has hit a new record high, as traders scramble to get their hands on the “devil’s metal” ahead of tonight’s US interest rate decision.

The price of silver rose over $60 per ounce for the first time yesterday, and this morning it’s risen further, to $61.40.

Analysts say a range of factors are pushing up silver; there are shortage fears as demand rises.

Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, explains:

Silvers gains are being driven by deepening structural supply deficits—worsened by falling mine production in major regions and persistently low global inventories—combined with rapidly rising industrial demand from the green-energy transition, especially solar photovoltaics, electric vehicles, and AI-related hardware.

Expectations of US interest rate cuts, which weaken the dollar, also push up the value of precious metals.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut US interest rates tonight, by a quarter of one percentage point.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is aiming to hold one of the biggest stock market listings of all time next year, according to reports.

SpaceX, which designs and manufactures rockets and spacecraft and is pioneering the idea of reusable rockets, is aiming for a valuation over $1trn by selling shares to investors in 2026, Bloomberg and Reuters are both reporting.

Bloomberg says SpaceX is seeking to raise significantly more than $30bn, and targeting a valuation of about $1.5tn for the whole company.

That would be a slightly larger share sale than Saudi Aramco’s IPO in 2019, which raised $29bn, giving the oil giant a valuation of around $1.7tn.

Reuters says SpaceX is hoping to “raise more than $25bn, with a valuation over $1tn”.

A one trillion dollar valuation would put SpaceX into the ranks of the 10 largest US listed companies.

SpaceX is expected to use funds from the public listing to develop space-based data centers, including purchasing the chips required to run them – an idea which both Musk and Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai have shown interest in.

SpaceX is currently developing Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever, which traveled halfway across world in successful test flight in October. It’s designed to take crew and cargo into Earth’s office, to the moon, Mars, and beyond, SpaceX says.

SpaceX also operates rocket flights for other organisations, such as NASA, and runs the fast-growing Starlink satellite internet service.

SpaceX is also understood to be conducting a secondary share sale – allowing insiders to sell shares to other investors – at a reported valuation of $800bn. That put it near against OpenAI in the race for the title of the most valuable private company [The AI company is thought to be preparing for a $1tn IPO next year], but its ambitions now appear to be higher….

The agenda

• 10am GMT: Treasury Committee hearing on budget with chancellor Rachel Reeves

• 10.45am GMT: Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey speaks at FT Global Boardroom conference:

• Noon GMT: US weekly mortgage market data

• 7pm GMT: US Federal Reserve interest rate decision

• 7.30pm GMT: Federal Reserve press conference