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FTSE 100 set to open higher tailing positive global cues
UK stock markets are set to open on a positive footing on Thursday, 7 January, with the FTSE 100 nudging over 10-month highs and the index witnessing the best start ever to a new year. The positive Asian cues with the Japanese Nikkei 225 soaring more than a per cent following the upbeat Wall Street are also likely to support the FTSE 100 rally today.
London equities mark the best start to year ever
With the last gain of nearly 3.5 per cent, FTSE 100 is comfortably progressing ahead near its 52-week highs bolstered by the sharp spike in shares of heavyweight companies. The apparent concerns over the national lockdown of seven-week and enduring uncertainty due to Covid-19 cases have been cleared by the large-scale vaccination drive in the United Kingdom.
According to the London Stock Exchange, FTSE 100 spiked 3.73 per cent to a fresh 10-month high of 6,859.14 before terminating 229.61 points, 3.47 per cent higher at 6,841.86. With the recent advancement in the index, FTSE 100 has added 5.9 per cent within three trading days of the new year 2021. Also, the barometer has minimised its yearly losses sitting with a 52-week drop of below 10 per cent.
FTSE 100 stood @ 10-month high (6 Jan)
(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)
Moderna vaccine approval restores optimism
The EMA (European Union’s European Medicines Agency) approving the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA), has also revived the seemingly dying enthusiasm amidst the market participants. The stock of Moderna jumped as much as 6.48 per cent to an intraday high of $116.26 on Wednesday following the development.
Moderna shares (6 Jan)
(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)
The benchmark Nasdaq Composite concluded in negative territory with a loss of 78.17 points, or 0.61 per cent at 12,740.79. Defying the losses of the tech-heavy index, the most-followed Dow Industrials and the broader S&P 500 settled with gains of up to 1.50 per cent. As per the data available with the NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 437.80 points, or 1.44 per cent to finish at a lifetime closing high of 30,829.40.
GBP skids slightly
The Great Britain pound (GBP) vs United States dollar (USD) currency pair traded in red with the pound sterling losing marginally against the greenback on Thursday. With the latest data available, the GBP to USD pair was trading at 1.3591, down 0.12 per cent at around 0638 GMT from the previous close of 1.3607. The Bank of England (BoE) had fixed a reference exchange rate of 1.3593 USD and 1.1074 EUR against a unit of GBP on 5 January.
Gold, crude, crypto in green
The commodity market regained its momentum on Thursday with the gold bouncing back in the green after two successive days of profit-booking. An ounce of the yellow metal was trading at $1,925.12, up 0.34 per cent from the last close of $1,918.57. The energy market extended the gains on Thursday with Brent crude trading at $54.67 per barrel, up 0.68 per cent and a barrel of WTI crude trading 0.77 per cent higher at $51.02. Cryptocurrency market held the gains with bitcoin trading 6 per cent higher above $37,000 apiece, Binance data showed.
