European stock markets pushed higher on Wednesday as UK public sector borrowing hit a record last month.

In London, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) gained 0.2% after opening, while the CAC (^FCHI) rose 0.4% in Paris, and the Frankfurt DAX (^GDAXI) was also nearly 0.4% higher.

UK public borrowing rose to its highest figure for November since monthly records began in 1993.

The Treasury borrowed £22bn during the month in a bid to plug the gap between tax receipts and spending, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This was £13.9bn more than the previous year and was significantly higher than the £13bn expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Total public sector spending came in at £98.9bn in November while day-to-day central government expenditure increased by £13.5bn to £82bn.

Read more: Debt warning for almost 2 million households ahead of Christmas

“Faced with the twin global emergencies of a pandemic and Putin’s war in Ukraine, we have taken significant action to support millions of businesses and families here in the UK,” chancellor Jeremy Hunt said.

“We have a clear plan to help halve inflation next year, but that requires some tough decisions to put our public finances back on a sustainable footing.”

Across the pond, S&P 500 futures (ES=F) were up 0.3% after the index closed higher for the first time in four sessions on Tuesday.

Dow futures (YM=F) rose 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were 0.4% higher as trade began in Europe.

Michael Hewson of CMC Markets said: “After four days of losses US markets just about managed to break their losing streak, with the focus this week very much on Friday’s PCE report and US consumer spending reports for November, which has thus far held up reasonably well this year, despite declining consumer confidence.”

Read more: UK consumer morale sinks close to all-time low

Since moving up to a six-month high of 108.30 in September, US consumer confidence has started to soften, despite evidence that inflation is starting to come down.