Britainīs business leaders express relief on Brexit progress but urge the government to make swift progress on a trade deal with the EUBrexit deal: `sufficient progressī made after overnight talks on Irish borderTusk says Brexit transition period is next hurdle - live updatesS&P says UK rating not affected by agreementUS jobs report stronger than expected in October, but wages disappoint 6.01pm GMT A couple of positive political developments helped push European markets higher, while Wall Street benefitted from the stronger than expected US jobs data. The Brexit breakthrough was welcomed by investors, and even the pound losing its early gains helped the UK market, packed as it is with overseas earners which are helped by a weak sterling. In Germany, hopes that the current impasse in forming a coalition government could be resolved lifted the Dax higher. The final scores in Europe showed: 4.50pm GMT The early excitement in the pound following the morningīs Brexit news was well and truly short lived, and sterling is now down 0.7% against the dollar at $1.3370. In the wake of the deal news it climbed as high as $1.3519. David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said:At the start of the session, sterling was gaining ground on the back of the announcement that the UK and the EU had made sufficient progress in the first phase talks, so it can now move onto the discussions about trade. The early positive momentum in sterling, ran out of steam and it then the pound turned negative - which propped up the FTSE 100. Continue reading...
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