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UK stock markets cheered the post-Brexit trade arrangement between Britain and the European Union on Tuesday, 29 December, with the headline FTSE 100 rising more than 2 per cent to a nine-month high. Market participants have seemingly rejoiced at the outcome of the long-awaited trade deal between the UK and the partner nations of the European Union that would be followed after the termination of Brexit transition deadline.
Markets celebrate Brexit deal cheer
The currency market also celebrated the Brexit deal optimism with the pound sterling regaining strength against the US counterpart. As per the latest foreign exchange data available, a unit of Great Britain pound (GBP) vs United States dollar (USD) pair was trading at 1.3504, up 0.41 per cent the previous close. In the intraday trade, a unit of pound sterling equalled 1.3523 USD.
A market-wide value buying has been observed in the domestic equities on Tuesday with all the major stock indices including FTSE 100, FTSE 250, FTSE 350 and FTSE All-Share gaining more than 2 per cent during the day so far. According to the data available with the London Stock Exchange, the benchmark FTSE 100 amassed a gain of 174.49 points or 2.68 per cent to hit a nine-month peak of 6,676.60 on Tuesday from the previous closing of 6,502.11 as on 24 December.
FTSE 100 (29 December)
(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)
However, the index pared partial gains in the late afternoon trades. At around 1509 GMT, FTSE 100 was trading at 6,623.18, up 121.07 points or 1.86 per cent.
AstraZeneca jumps on hopes of vaccine approval
A positive Wall Street opening also favoured the rally on the London Stock Exchange with the shares of AstraZeneca Plc (LON: AZN) providing substantial support to the headline stock index. The stock of AstraZeneca surged nearly 5 per cent in the intraday trade on the hopes of an emergency usage approval for its vaccine. AstraZeneca share price jumped as much as 4.92 per cent to a day’s high of GBX 7,578.24 from the previous closing price of GBX 7,223.
Commodity check
In the commodities market, an ounce of spot gold traded at $1,877.51, up 0.24 per cent as the investors continued to incline towards the yellow metal among the safe haven assets with the USD losing its dominance against a basket of currencies. The energy market extended the gains on Tuesday with the Brent crude oil trading at $51.34 per barrel, up 0.86 per cent, while the WTI crude oil hovered 0.99 per cent higher at $48.09 a barrel.
The crypto market continued in the negative territory with bitcoin trading nearly 2 per cent lower below the mark of $27,000, Binance data showed. Bitcoin has been oscillating near its all-time high lately after surpassing the psychological level of $28,000 continuing the recent rally.
