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7.52am BST
Asia-Pacific stock markets are all showing gains today.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 is the top performer, up 2.5%, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 has gained 1.5%.
Encouraging results from Oxford’s vaccine candidate, in addition to EU leaders agreeing to a €750 billion Recovery Fund is overshadowing rising tension between the UK and China and soaring covid numbers in California.
As the marathon EU leaders’ talks entered the fifth straight day, an agreement was finally reached. The EU Recovery Fund will be €390 billion in grants and the remaining €360 billion in loans to help those countries most affected by the coronavirus pandemic and help the region out of its deepest recession since World War 2. Italy, Spain and Poland are set to gain the most after leaders compromised over the proportions of the fund which would be grants and or loans to please the frugal four. This is being hailed a historic moment for the EU, which is more than a little late to the stimulus party. However, given the boost to risk sentiment this is definitely a case of better late than never.
7.48am BST
Here’s our Brussels team Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin on the EU recovery fund deal:
The deal was hard won and the negotiations divided north against south, and east against west, as governments haggled over the terms of both the bloc’s seven-year budget and an one-off economic stimulus.
The summit, stretching from Friday morning into the early hours of Tuesday, was so prolonged that two leaders, Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg and Ireland’s Micheál Martin, had to briefly return home before coming back to Brussels.
Related: EU leaders seal deal on spending and €750bn Covid-19 recovery plans Continue reading...