The meeting between Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar has ended on a surprisingly positive note with the two sides saying that they may have found a potential solution for a Brexit deal. The pound has bounced late Thursday in one of the steepest one-day rises in the last five months and seems to be holding above $1.245 as EU negotiators have grabbed onto the positive momentum.
The EU’s Michel Barnier and Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay are talking possible solutions over croissants and coffee in Brussels on Friday morning raising hopes that the PM will have a Brexit deal to offer MPs by the October 19 deadline.
Although the FTSE 100 is a touch lower, weighed down by declines in luxury brand Burberry (LON:BRBY) and advertising firm WPP (LON:WPP) the list of gainers is far more impressive as the recently battered property companies and banks have turned the corner. Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Lloyds (LON:LLOY) have rallied 4.88% and 4.56% respectively, with Persimmon (LON:PSN), Kingfisher (LON:KGF) and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) following closely behind.
Oil price slide comes to abrupt halt as oil tanker explodes
The quiet stretch in the Middle East came to an end overnight as an Iranian oil tanker exploded off the coast of Saudi Arabia. While the market is still waiting for details of what actually happened Brent crude prices are already rallying back up above $60. The temporary slide into the $58-$59 territory earlier this week caused by worsening US-China relations and concerns over future Chinese oil demand seems for the moment to be over.