Stocks hit record high, sterling endures rough week

• World stocks touched record highs on Friday, as trading wound down before the year-end holidays, while the British pound was heading toward its worst week for more than two years amid renewed worries over how Britain will leave the European Union.

 

• MSCI’s world equity index. MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 49 countries, gained a smidgeon to 561.31, bettering a record scaled on Thursday as optimism infused markets after the United States and China agreed an initial trade deal.

 

• On Wall Street, futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 were flat near all-time highs, having risen more than 1% in the week.

 

• On the currency front, sterling steadied after suffering a sharp reversal that left it facing its worst weekly fall since late 2017 of around 2%.

 

(Source: Reuters)