AUS
NZ
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UK stock markets are expected to open lower on Tuesday, 9 February, tracking the mixed Asian cues with Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 concluding in positive territory. Other regional Asian markets registered moderate-to-sharp gains with China’s Shanghai Composite finishing 2 per cent higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closing marginally higher in green, and India’s Nifty hovering 0.7 per cent higher.
Asian equities
Japan’s Nikkei 225 terminated with a gain of 0.4 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi ended in red after surrendering the morning rise in the late trade. A slight drop was observed in major Asian equities towards their respective closing after the futures linked to Dow Industrials slipped into the negative region. Back home, the futures linked to the domestic FTSE 100 also fell below the previous closing indicating a slightly negative start to the London equities.
The vaccination drive has been thoroughly assisting in reinforcing the confidence paving the way to remove the national lockdown in the UK, but the uncertainties revolving around the rapidly mutating virus strain has renewed after South Africa halted the rollout of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.
GBP nears 1.38
The Great Britain pound (GBP) extended the gains against the United States dollar (USD) with the sterling nearing 1.38 vs the greenback in the early trade on Tuesday. Around 0753 GMT, the GBP vs USD currency pair was trading at 1.3780, up 0.31 per cent from the previous close of 1.3738.
During the session so far, the currency pair has shuttled between a wide range of 1.3736 and 1.3789 at the interbank foreign exchange market. The Bank of England had fixed a reference exchange rate of 1.3724 USD and 1.1414 EUR against a unit of pound sterling on 5 February.
(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)
Vaccination in full swing
Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Monday said the authorities have immunised more than 12.2 million people as on 8 February with 91 per cent of the population among the age group of 80 years and above receiving the first jab as of midnight of 7 February. About 95 per cent of the individuals between the age group of 75 and 79, and nearly three-quarters between the group of 70 and 74 years have received the first vaccine shot, Hancock said.
The hospital admissions remain higher as compared to the peaks of April and November with 841 fatal cases last week. Nevertheless, the continuous effort of inoculating the maximum number of people in the first four priority groups by 15 February is on track, Hancock added. After achieving the target in the first four groups, next set people according to the JCVI priority groups will be contacted for vaccination, he said.
People falling in the age group of 70 years and above are now requested to contact the National Health Service (NHS) if they haven’t got an appointment. For those living in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the local health team will get in touch as the healthcare authority is working collectively to meet the goal by the middle of the month, Hancock said.
