Global markets rally on improved US-China trade relations
Markets worldwide rallied this morning on the news that China and the US had pulled back from the brink in their escalating trade war.
The FTSE 100 was up 145 points on 7,125, the FTSE 250 up 250 points to 18,730 and the FTSE all-share was up 73 points on 3,896.
Among the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 this morning were steel company Evraz up 7.9 per cent, and oil field services firm Wood Group up 6.1 per cent.
Miners also rose this morning with Antofagasta up 7.9 per cent, BHP up 5.9 per cent, Glencore up 5.8 per cent and Kaz Minerals up 6.6 per cent.
The rally comes a day after China and the USA said they were suspending their growing trade war.
Yesterday the White House announced it would pause it plans to raise tariffs on $200bn (£156bn) worth of goods from China.
They had been scheduled to rise to 25 per cent from 1 January but will now remain at 10 per cent.
In response to the freeze China has pledged to buy farm, energy and industrial goods, to reduce the country’s trade surplus with the US. The exact amount was “not yet agreed upon, but very substantial”, according to the White House.
Asian markets were also boosted this morning with MSCI's index of Asian shares excluding Japan up 2.13 per cent and Japan's Nikkei 225 up one per cent.
In Europe Germany's Dax was up 2.39 per cent while France's Cac 40 rose 1.78 per cent.