A positive swell of headlines led to gains across the board on Wednesday morning, following a surge from the Dow Jones that saw it close a fraction below 30,200.
The Dow was driven higher by renewed hopes of a stimulus relief bill being passed in Congress before the year is over. Combined, the proposed measures would total $908 billion – $748 billion to fund 16 weeks of enhanced unemployment insurance, and a further $160 billion to cover things like state and local aid.
That figure is less than half the $2.2 trillion package House Democrats passed earlier in the year, and lower than the pre-election numbers bandied about by Nancy Pelosi and Steven Mnuchin before the election.
Still, the States is desperate for a deal – something likely to be reiterated by the Federal Reserve this evening – and this bipartisan offering appears to stand the best chance of getting passed before Friday’s shutdown deadline.
Talking of deals and deadlines, the market perception of the Brexit negotiations is that no news is good news, and that the relative lack of updates on the progress of the latest round of talks suggests both sides are serious about pursing an agreement. This chimes with reports that the UK has dropped another one of its sea-obsessed demands, abandoning its intention of renationalising fishing vessels.
And with a cherry on top in the form the Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) vaccine rolling out across the US, investors were more than happy to get involved this Wednesday.
Despite the pound rising half a percent against the dollar, and 0.1% against the euro – the latter a reduction on its initial 0.4% rise – the FTSE climbed 70 points, leaving it a whisker away from 6,600.
The Eurozone indices were just as robust in their own gains – the DAX surged 175 points to a 10-month peak of 13,550, with the CAC up 0.8% and at 5,580.
The Dow Jones is set to be a bit calmer after the US open, though even a 0.2% increase would return it to all-time high territory.
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