AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
UK stock markets are likely to open on a negative footing on Thursday, 31 December, the last trading day of 2020, as the tighter restrictions imposed by the government has renewed uncertainty amidst the investors. The Department of Health and Social Care, in its scheduled review of the tier system, on 30 December declared that more areas will be moving to stricter tiers from today in order to arrest the rising number of coronavirus cases and the subsequently increasing hospital admissions.
Areas moving to Tier 4
According to the scheduled review of the tier system, areas including Leicester City, Coventry, the Isle of Wight, and Bournemouth, Solihull are among the many authorities that are being moved to “Tier 4” from 31 December.
Along with these authorities, certain areas of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Derby and Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, Birmingham and Black Country, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, Lancashire, Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Tees Valley, North East, Gloucestershire, and Somerset Council, are also set to move into Tier 4.
FTSE 100 turns lacklustre
Following the announcement, FTSE 100 surrendered its morning gains in the late afternoon trades with the benchmark index hitting an intraday low of 6,552.46. The headline FTSE 100 index neared its nine-month peak on Wednesday rising to a day’s high of 6,622.98. FTSE 100 celebrated the outcome of the months-long deliberations over the Brexit trade deal on Tuesday, 29 December, with the index hitting a nine-month peak of 6,676.60.
FTSE 100 (30 December)
(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)
AstraZeneca Plc fails to gain
Shares of AstraZeneca Plc (LON: AZN), the market capitalisation leader, failed to post even a marginal gain on Wednesday.
The stock of AstraZeneca closed 0.82 per cent lower at GBX 7,401 from the previous close of GBX 7,462 on Wednesday.
AstraZeneca Plc (30 December)
(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)
GBP maintains strength
The Great Britain pound (GBP) managed to sustain the gains against the United States dollar on Wednesday with a unit of pound sterling equalling 1.3622 USD at the close on 30 December. The Bank of England had fixed a currency conversion rate of 1.3494 USD and 1.1022 EUR against a unit of pound sterling, respectively on 29 December.
The GBP vs USD hovered at near the 31-month high level surpassing 1.3600 on 31 December after the Parliament approved the recently-finalised trade arrangement between the United Kingdom and the European Union scheduled to be followed from 1 January 2021.
GBP vs USD (31 December)
(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)
Commodity and crypto
The commodity market retreated marginally on Thursday with an ounce of gold trading 0.24 per cent lower at $1,890.07. A largely similar move was observed in the energy market with a barrel of Brent crude oil trading 0.08 per cent lower at $51.59 and WTI crude oil trading $48.34 per barrel, down 0.12 per cent from the previous close.
The cryptocurrency market continued to reach new highs with bitcoin hitting a fresh lifetime peak breaching the psychological level of $29,000 for the first time in history. According to the data available with Binance, bitcoin has mounted to an all-time high of $29,315.42.
