Ggood morning. The FTSE 100 is set to open marginally higher as the pollen rally’s momentum runs out.
Despite positive news from Pfizer on Monday, Europe is still struggling to deal with the second wave of the virus. France and Italy recorded their highest daily death toll from Covid since April yesterday, while intensive care unit capacity in Paris is about to run out.
5 things to start your day
1) What does the vaccine mean for the global economy: Meteorologists have learned that the global economic outlook hinges on a lasting solution to the pandemic, after months of lockdown and more.
2) Waitrose doubles on fresh food counters: With some supermarket chains calling time on their fresh food counters, Waitrose is committed to keeping it open and releasing virtual releases next year.
3) Luxury brands ask Sunak to rethink the end of VAT-free shopping: From Gucci to Hugo Boss, Sunak brands have warned that a proposed ban on tax-free shopping will cost billions and lead to a brutal tourism slump.
4) Indulge in foreign-born workers as Covid destroys jobs: Foreign-born workers in the UK fell by nearly 600,000 in the past year as Covid squandered the job market and sparked a mass exodus.
5) The billionaire bidding on the national lottery gets 500 million euros from Apollo: One of the largest acquisition funds in the world supports Czech billionaire Karel Komáric’s bid to obtain the national lottery from the incumbent operator.
What happened overnight
Asian markets rallied again on Wednesday as investors continued to ride positive sentiment from news of a highly successful vaccine trial and the victory of Joe Biden in the US election.
Stocks were already on the rise at the end of last week as the former vice president appeared to be looking for a path to wrest control of the White House from Donald Trump and provide more certainty in global affairs.
But US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech provided rocket fuel on Monday when they said their Covid-19 vaccine candidate was 90% effective, raising hopes of a move toward normal life on planet Earth.
And while the rally appeared to falter in New York on Tuesday – the Dow jumped but the S&P 500 fell – Asia was positive again.
Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul all rose by more than 1 percent, while Hong Kong, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta also made new gains.
Profit taking, however, both Singapore and Manila fell after their rally on Tuesday.
Is coming today
Company: Interim Results: Great Portland Estates, Workspace (Interim results); McCarthy & Stone, Taylor Wimpy, And Witherspoon (JD) (Trading data)
Economic: Unscheduled.
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