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FTSE 100 LIVE: UK stocks SOAR as coronavirus vaccine resumes phase 3 trials


Vaccine hopes boosted shared, but  entiment was still cautious ahead of a big week of central bank meetings in UK, Japan and the United States.

AstraZeneca announced it has resumed British clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine at the weekend, after getting the green light from safety watchdogs.

This is one of the most advanced in development.

The late-stage trials of the experimental vaccine, developed with researchers from the University of Oxford, were suspended last week after an illness in a study subject in Britain, casting doubts on an early rollout.

A vaccine has long been awaited to help pull the world out of a coronavirus-induced lockdown.

“The reopening of the global economy is enticing us to recommend a trade going long a basket of 14 laggard ‘back to work’ stocks versus a basket of 14 high-flying ‘COVID-19 winners’,” BCA Research wrote in a note.

“While we maintain a cyclical and secular bullish outlook on the broad market, a short-term correction due to technical and (geo) political reasons is likely on the cards,” it said

“A playable short-term pullback is in order.”

FOLLOW EXPRESS.CO.UK BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES:

6pm update: Offshore oil wells and ports shut as Hurricane Sally descends on US

Energy companies, ports and refiners have raced to shut down as Hurricane Sally bores in on the central US Gulf Coast, the second significant hurricane to shutter oil and gas activity over the last month.

Sally was upgraded to a hurricane on Monday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, but its trajectory has shifted east towards Mississippi, likely sparing some of Louisiana’s refining operations.

The hurricane is disrupting oil imports and exports, as the nation’s sole offshore terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, stopped loading tanker ships on Sunday, while the port of New Orleans is closing Monday.

Numerous offshore production facilities have been shut, including those operated by Chevron Corp and BP Plc.

As of 12.05 pm EDT (5.05pm BST), Sally was about 135 miles (220 km) east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with winds up to 85 mph (140 km/h).

5.00pm update: FTSE closed

The FTSE-100 index at the close was down 5.84 at 6026.25.

The FTSE Mid-250 index closed up 121.39 at 17677.26.

4.30pm update: Wall Street climbs

Wall Street’s major indexes climbed on Monday on a boost from technology stocks.

Markets were also boosted by signs of progress in developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

Nvidia Corp jumped 6.7% on plans to buy UK-based chip designer Arm from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp for as much as $40 billion.

The Philadelphia SE chip index rose 2.4%.

All major S&P sectors were higher with technology leading the charge with a 2.3% increase.

3.15pm update: Brexit crisis after Boris’s threat

Boris Johnson’s Internal Market Bill has sparked chaos in Europe.

In currency markets, sterling bounced off recent 1-1/2 month lows against the dollar ahead of the parliamentary debate.

Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid: “The question will be how many Conservative MPs (members of parliament) rebel on the matter.”

2.45pm update: FTSE still down

The FTSE-100 index at 2:45pm was down 12.80 at 6019.29.

12.45pm update: Expert reacts to markets

Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors, reacted to the markets on Monday.

Shah said: “There is still some caution in markets because US virus numbers appear to be picking up again in some states.

“The vaccine is positive news but there is a lot of scepticism about when it comes in and how widely it will be adopted.”

12.30pm update: Limited gains despite vaccine hopes

World stocks nudged higher on Monday on hopes for a coronavirus vaccine.

It came after AstraZeneca resumed its phase-3 trial.

But, the gains were limited ahead of a host of central bank meetings this week.

11.45am update: FTSE down

The FTSE-100 index at 11:45am was down 11.35 at 6020.74.

11.00am update: Morning’s gains wiped out

FTSE’s morning gains have been wiped out following a sharp slump.

The UK index rose from yesterday’s close of 6,032 to 6,074 in just 15 minutes this morning.

However it has since plummeted below open, now sitting at 6,017.

9.15am update: European markets start strong

Like FTSE, European markets have started the day brightly.

Euronext 100 is up 0.70%, CAC 40 is up 0.77%, DAX is up 0.53% and Swiss Market Index is up 0.30%.

8.20am update: FTSE soars on open

FTSE has soared on open this morning, growing 70 points in just a matter of minutes.

The UK index closed at 6,043 on Friday afternoon, after a productive week during which it rose from 5,799.

This morning the index has continued its bright form, rising from 6,043 to 6,076.





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