Asian stocks camped out at 18-month peaks on Wednesday having climbed for five straight sessions, while the British pound was licking fresh wounds as revived Brexit fears came back to bite it.

MSCI's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/it-stocks-propel-indian-shares-to-all-time-peaks-268818">broadest index</a> of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1 per cent to its highest since June last year. Japan's <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/sensex-rallies-by-413-points-to-scale-new-high-nifty-closes-at-12165-268755">Nikkei</a> dipped 0.3 per cent&nbsp;and off a 2019 top.

Shanghai blue chips added 0.3 per cent, after hitting an eight-month peak on Tuesday, as Beijing trimmed another short-term interest rate.

E-Mini futures for the S&amp;P 500 were little changed, while <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/global-stocks-rattled-after-donald-trump-says-no-deadline-on-us-china-trade-deal-266025">EUROSTOXX 50</a> futures fell 0.1 per cent.

Upbeat economic news had helped the S&amp;P 500 reach a record for the fourth straight session, building on its 27 per cent&nbsp;gain this year. The Dow ended Tuesday up 0.19 per cent, while the S&amp;P 500 gained 0.07 per cent&nbsp;and the Nasdaq 0.11 per cent.

U.S. housing starts were surprisingly strong in November, and building permits rose to the highest level since May 2007. Manufacturing output picked up more than expected as a strike at General Motors Co ended.

A run of better data recently has helped calm fears of recession while the "phase one" Sino-US&nbsp;deal on trade seems to have lifted some of the uncertainty on the&nbsp;global&nbsp;outlook.

The sea change was clear in BofA&nbsp;Global&nbsp;Research's latest survey of fund managers with recession concerns diving 33 per cent points to a net 68 per cent&nbsp;of investors saying a recession is now unlikely in 2020.

Global&nbsp;growth expectations jumped 22 per cent points, marking the biggest 2-month rise on record. As a result, funds' allocation to&nbsp;global&nbsp;equities climbed 10 per cent points to a net 31 per cent&nbsp;overweight, the highest level in a year.

Yet it might be too soon to declare an all-clear on the political front with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson upsetting&nbsp;markets&nbsp;by taking a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/boris-johnson-uses-threat-of-brexit-cliff-edge-to-demand-eu-trade-deal-by-end-of-2020-268681">hard line</a> on Brexit talks.

Johnson will use the prospect of a Brexit cliff-edge at the end of 2020 to demand the EU give him a comprehensive free trade deal in less than 11 months.

The threat of a hard exit sent shivers through sterling, which slid 1.5 per cent&nbsp;in its largest one-day fall this year.

The pound was down another 0.4 per cent&nbsp;on Wednesday at $1.3075 having shed all the gains made during the Conservative Party's big election win.

"Johnson's move aimed at cancelling the possibility of an extension, has essentially increase the possibility of a no deal Brexit," said <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/asian-markets-rally-as-trump-says-trade-talks-going-very-well-255147">Rodrigo Catril</a>, a senior FX strategist at NAB.

"It suggests sterling's path in 2020 looks set to be a volatile one, a hard Brexit cannot be ruled out, but the probability of a positive Brexit resolution has also increased."

Sterling's slide gave the dollar index a lift to 97.243 against a basket of currencies, extending a bounce from last week's five-month low of 96.588.

The euro also surged on the pound and was steady on the dollar at $1.1140. The yen was little changed at 109.46 per dollar.

Spot gold idled at $1,475.24 per ounce, after a couple of very quiet sessions.

Oil prices eased from three-month highs as data showed US crude stocks rose unexpectedly in the most recent week.

US&nbsp;crude fell 38 cents to $60.56 a barrel, while Brent crude futures lost 29 cents to $65.81.

Asian stocks camped out at 18-month peaks on Wednesday having climbed for five straight sessions, while the British pound was licking fresh wounds as revived Brexit fears came back to bite it.

Asian stocks camped out at 18-month peaks on Wednesday having climbed for five straight sessions, while the British pound was licking fresh wounds as revived Brexit fears came back to bite it. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1 per cent to its highest since June last year. Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.3 per cent and off a 2019 top. Shanghai blue chips added 0.3 per cent, after hitting an eight-month peak on Tuesday, as Beijing trimmed another short-term interest rate. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were little changed, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 0.1 per cent. Upbeat economic news had helped the S&P 500 reach a record for the fourth straight session, building on its 27 per cent gain this year. The Dow ended Tuesday up 0.19 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.07 per cent and the Nasdaq 0.11 per cent. U.S. housing starts were surprisingly strong in November, and building permits rose to the highest level since May 2007. Manufacturing output picked up more than expected as a strike at General Motors Co ended. A run of better data recently has helped calm fears of recession while the "phase one" Sino-US deal on trade seems to have lifted some of the uncertainty on the global outlook. The sea change was clear in BofA Global Research's latest survey of fund managers with recession concerns diving 33 per cent points to a net 68 per cent of investors saying a recession is now unlikely in 2020. Global growth expectations jumped 22 per cent points, marking the biggest 2-month rise on record. As a result, funds' allocation to global equities climbed 10 per cent points to a net 31 per cent overweight, the highest level in a year. Yet it might be too soon to declare an all-clear on the political front with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson upsetting markets by taking a hard line on Brexit talks. Johnson will use the prospect of a Brexit cliff-edge at the end of 2020 to demand the EU give him a comprehensive free trade deal in less than 11 months. The threat of a hard exit sent shivers through sterling, which slid 1.5 per cent in its largest one-day fall this year. The pound was down another 0.4 per cent on Wednesday at $1.3075 having shed all the gains made during the Conservative Party's big election win. "Johnson's move aimed at cancelling the possibility of an extension, has essentially increase the possibility of a no deal Brexit," said Rodrigo Catril, a senior FX strategist at NAB. "It suggests sterling's path in 2020 looks set to be a volatile one, a hard Brexit cannot be ruled out, but the probability of a positive Brexit resolution has also increased." Sterling's slide gave the dollar index a lift to 97.243 against a basket of currencies, extending a bounce from last week's five-month low of 96.588. The euro also surged on the pound and was steady on the dollar at $1.1140. The yen was little changed at 109.46 per dollar. Spot gold idled at $1,475.24 per ounce, after a couple of very quiet sessions. Oil prices eased from three-month highs as data showed US crude stocks rose unexpectedly in the most recent week. US crude fell 38 cents to $60.56 a barrel, while Brent crude futures lost 29 cents to $65.81.

Global Markets: Asia shares eke out another peak, pound fears Brexit redux

Sterling suffered a dizzying &quot;flash crash&quot; against the euro and dollar on Friday in a computer-generated sell-off, sending Brexit shockwaves across markets.

In the second-largest intra-day decline, the pound plunged more than six per cent against the dollar in under ten minutes in Asian trading hours. &nbsp;

A spokesman for the Bank of England told AFP that they are &quot;looking into&quot; the cause of the flash crash.&nbsp;

&quot;We are looking into what happened,&quot; &nbsp;he said after sterling suffered a &quot;flash crash&quot; in Asia trading hours -- hitting a new 31-year low point at $1.1841. The pound slumped also to a 6.5-year trough against the euro, at 94.15 pence. 
Market analysts said algorithmic trading programmes apparently triggered the crash that caused the value of sterling to plummet.&nbsp;

&quot;A lot of investors are still scratching their heads as to how and why it happened, whether it was a fat fingered trader in Tokyo, an algorithm scanning for any negative Brexit news, or just a big seller of the pound,&quot; said analyst Alex Edwards at trading firm UKForex.

&quot;Whatever it was, it shows us that the pound is looking very vulnerable right now.&quot;

XTB analyst David Cheetham added that a combination of trades placed by algorithms and stop-loss orders can &quot;exacerbate the move, which is commonly seen to retrace by a significant proportion of the decline within a matter of minutes&quot;.

Stop-loss orders are automatic orders to buy or sell an asset once it reaches a certain price level.

Approaching midday in London, the pound rowed back to $1.2368, while the euro stood at 89.99 pence.

After rebounding, the pound again fell sharply this week on fears of a so-called &quot;hard Brexit&quot; that would see Britain depart the single market, or tariff-free zone, and end free movement of people into the country.

The pound has hit several fresh 31-year lows against the dollar this week, after British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined a timetable at the weekend for Britain to leave the European Union by 2019.

May&#39;s comment led French President Francois Hollande to call Thursday for EU officials to use a firm hand in negotiations with Britain over its exit.

But some market-watchers said the event illustrated the fragility of the British unit since the country&#39;s shock referendum vote on June 23 to leave the European Union.

(WION with inputs from AFP) 
&nbsp;

The British pound plummeted more than six per cent against the dollar in under ten minutes on Friday, baffling traders across global markets

Sterling suffered a dizzying "flash crash" against the euro and dollar on Friday in a computer-generated sell-off, sending Brexit shockwaves across markets. In the second-largest intra-day decline, the pound plunged more than six per cent against the dollar in under ten minutes in Asian trading hours. A spokesman for the Bank of England told AFP that they are "looking into" the cause of the flash crash. "We are looking into what happened," he said after sterling suffered a "flash crash" in Asia trading hours -- hitting a new 31-year low point at $1.1841. The pound slumped also to a 6.5-year trough against the euro, at 94.15 pence. Market analysts said algorithmic trading programmes apparently triggered the crash that caused the value of sterling to plummet. "A lot of investors are still scratching their heads as to how and why it happened, whether it was a fat fingered trader in Tokyo, an algorithm scanning for any negative Brexit news, or just a big seller of the pound," said analyst Alex Edwards at trading firm UKForex. "Whatever it was, it shows us that the pound is looking very vulnerable right now." XTB analyst David Cheetham added that a combination of trades placed by algorithms and stop-loss orders can "exacerbate the move, which is commonly seen to retrace by a significant proportion of the decline within a matter of minutes". Stop-loss orders are automatic orders to buy or sell an asset once it reaches a certain price level. Approaching midday in London, the pound rowed back to $1.2368, while the euro stood at 89.99 pence. After rebounding, the pound again fell sharply this week on fears of a so-called "hard Brexit" that would see Britain depart the single market, or tariff-free zone, and end free movement of people into the country. The pound has hit several fresh 31-year lows against the dollar this week, after British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined a timetable at the weekend for Britain to leave the European Union by 2019. May's comment led French President Francois Hollande to call Thursday for EU officials to use a firm hand in negotiations with Britain over its exit. But some market-watchers said the event illustrated the fragility of the British unit since the country's shock referendum vote on June 23 to leave the European Union. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Pound's 'flash crash' triggers volatility warnings

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Global Markets: Asia shares eke out another peak, pound fears Brexit redux

Pound's 'flash crash' triggers volatility warnings