FTSE 100 finishes higher as ECB commits to accelerate purchases By Investing.com

Key Points

• FTSE 100 finished higher, miners lead
• ECB commits to accelerate bond purchases
• Initial jobless claims fall to post-pandemic low
• GBP/USD up for third consecutive day
• Bitcoin firm above $56,000

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – The FTSE 100 finished the session in the green, lifted by mining stocks after the passage of Biden’s stimulus bill boosted commodity prices. Anglo American (LON:AAL), Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) all posted gains as base metals jumped, with copper up 2% and above $4/lb.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) shares were in focus after a number of European countries suspended the rollout of jabs from the UK-listed company. Denmark was the first country to take the step following reports of blood clots, with Norway and Italy following suit. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it was not confirmed that the report of a blood clot was caused by the AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) reiterated the point, saying there was no indication the AstraZeneca jab was the cause of the reported blood clot conditions.

Further vaccination news came after the EMA approved Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)’s vaccine for use in the European Union.

ECB

The European Central Bank kept their interest rates unchanged but said they expect purchases under the PEPP over the next quarter to be at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of 2021. Lagarde sounded somewhat optimistic in some of her comments, saying the economic situation is to improve and that medium-term risks have become more balanced.

Currencies

GBP/USD rose for a third consecutive day, hitting its highest level in a week but still failing to crack 1.4000 to the upside. The weekly initial jobless claims data did little to help to the USD despite those claiming unemployment benefit for the first time falling to post-pandemic lows.

Looking ahead

The US Treasury rounds off its weekly auction sale with a 30-year bond auction at 18:00GMT. So far this week, the 3- and 10-year auctions have passed with little fanfare and markets will be hoping for the same at today’s 30-year auction.

In the UK, tomorrow sees the release of the monthly GDP figures as well as trade, industrial production and construction output figures.