Key Points
- FTSE 100 closing price of 6,884.56, +0.89%
- UK regulator concludes possible link between AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) jab and blood clots
- EU regulator says benefits of AZ jab outweigh risks
- Weak GBP supports UK shares
- Cryptocurrencies fall, total market cap below $2 trillion
By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – The FTSE 100 closed higher on Wednesday, supported by a weak GBP amid mixed vaccination news from Europe and the UK.
The European Medicines Agency released their report into the study of potential blood clots following the AstraZeneca vaccine. They concluded that unusual blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the vaccine but confirmed that overall benefit-risk remains positive. The regulator made no changes to its recommendations regarding administering vaccine but said most of the cases occurred in women under the age of 60.
At the same time, the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), concluded a possible link between the jab and extremely rare, unlikely to occur blood clots. The MHRA did not recommend age restrictions in AstraZeneca’s vaccine use but the UK’s vaccine advisory group recommended people aged between 18-29 be offered an alternative vaccine where available. Despite the new recommendation, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said that the impact on rollout will be negligible or zero, given the alternative supply situation.
Despite both countries saying that benefits outweigh the risks, the mixed messages from the two regulators will do little to ease concerns of those sceptical about taking the vaccine in Europe and the UK.
GBP was weak amid the vaccine confusion and as the UK’s rate of vaccination continues to slow down. After hitting a 7-day average of over 600,000 vaccinations per day in March, the 7-day average currently stands just above 330,000 per day. Meanwhile, there are signs that some European countries that were slow to get their vaccination programmes up and running are starting to catch up. As such, EUR/GBP benefitted with the cross jumping above 0.8600.
The weak GBP supported the FTSE 100 particularly those with revenues from overseas. Miners were generally strong, also helped by a positive note from Barclays (LON:BARC) on the sector. The UK based bank said miners remain attractive as a relatively cheap value sector exposed to growing demand.
Elsewhere in the UK, Deliveroo (LON:ROO) shares traded higher as the individual investors who bought shares in the company’s disappointing IPO were allowed to begin trading their shares. Meanwhile gambling company Flutter Entertainment (LON:FLTRF) propped up the blue-chip index after a lawsuit from Fox regarding their FanDuel stake. AstraZeneca shares were also lower following the regulatory updates.
WTI and Brent crude futures were both lower despite a larger than expected decline in oil inventories. The Energy Information Administration said crude inventories declined 3.522 million barrels in the latest week versus expectations of 1.436 million barrel draw.
Cryptocurrencies experienced a pull back after a strong week for some of the smaller coins. XRP has almost doubled in the last week while Ethereum continues to hover around $2,000. Bitcoin has failed to move back above resistance at $60,000 but remains steady below there with a market cap of over $1 trillion.