London reached a fresh record high in morning deals, with the Bank of England (BoE) expected to cut its key interest rate later in the session.

The capital’s FTSE 100 was boosted also by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the index’s most valuable company, whose share price jumped nearly 5% on a positive outlook following a jump in annual net profit.

Japanese carmaker Nissan closed up more than 7% in Tokyo after reports said it was looking for a new partner amid talk that its flagged tie-up with Honda would not go ahead. Honda fell 4%.

“For all the doom and gloom, talk of trade wars and tariffs, and broad geopolitical risk, investors keep putting money to work at companies with good valuations,” noted Neil Wilson, analyst at TipRanks trading group.

Global equities slumped early in the week after US President Donald Trump announced hefty tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico.

Sentiment has improved, however, after Trump reached deals with the US neighbours to delay implementation of the measures.

The US Postal Service has meanwhile reversed a decision to halt parcels from China and Hong Kong.

There were solid gains across European stock markets today after rallies in Asia and yesterday in the US.

Shares in French bank Societe Generale soared more than 10% in Paris after posting better-than-expected results.

Frankfurt stocks were boosted by official data showing German industrial orders rebounded more than expected in December.

Wall Street ended higher yesterday, despite disappointing earnings this week from Google-parent Alphabet that weighed on the tech sector.

Alphabet tanked more than 7% in New York, while Amazon was off more than 2%.

Ongoing uncertainty about the economic outlook helped haven gold to a new high above US$2,882 an ounce.

On currency markets, the yen built on its recent gains against the dollar fuelled by expectations the Bank of Japan will continue hiking interest rates as inflation remains elevated.