Nikkei 225 breaks above 27,000 for the first time since 1991
The Nikkei closed higher by a stunning 2.7% today before the final day of trading tomorrow and while window dressing may be part of a factor, the jump today breaks the consolidation period since the pause after the November rally.

EU ambassadors give the green light for a Brexit deal

A trade deal was agreed but negotiations won’t stop there
Although both sides have come to some agreement on trade, Brexit isn’t quite over just yet as we look towards the new year.

DAX trades to a fresh record high to start European morning trade
That is keeping the risk mood tilted towards the optimistic side in the final trading week with equities gaining and bonds slumping.

Gove building up further optimism going into the new year
The UK is widely expected to approve the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine in the coming days, with the rollout then set to begin in the first week of January. The announcement is expected some time this week, as early as tomorrow so watch out for that.

Spain says around 70% of the population will be immunised by next summer
The Spanish vaccination program began yesterday, with the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Some 4.5 million doses will be delivered to Spain over the next 12 weeks, with the government having then said that they expect 15-20 million people to have been vaccinated

Have a merry Christmas
Thanks so much for all the great support. It’s been a wild year and we’re counting our blessing for good health and good servers this year.

Labour will support the deal
The long nightmare is over, the Brexit deal is done. As usual, the market moved way before the announcement and there was some selling of the fact on the announcement, which came just before 1500 GMT.

Not much else happening at this point as the UK and EU are still finalising a Brexit trade agreement
No change to the narrative besides some last-minute hitch to fisheries, but that will surely be resolved one way or another as the political will is certainly there.

Comments by Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney
For cable, any break on the official news later will need buyers to breach above the high last week of 1.3624 and hold that in order to solidify the upside momentum.