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| - European stock markets were mostly higher Thursday as oil surged, and the British pound fell on the growing risk of a no-deal Brexit, dealers said. Oil prices leapt higher as traders looked for economic activity to pick up in the wake of coronavirus vaccines being rolled out, and the enlarged OPEC+ group stuck to its deal for a smaller output hike. The contract for Brent crude rose to $50 for the first time since March 6. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank unveiled its latest economic forecasts after providing more stimulus to help eurozone members withstand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Equity gains were curbed, however, by politicians' inability to reach agreements on post-Brexit trade arrangements, and surging Covid-19 cases offset to some extent the effect of the vaccine rollout. Sterling slid against the euro and dollar after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen failed to find common ground in Wednesday's crunch talks. On Thursday, however, the ECB made good on chief Christine Lagarde's indications that extra support was on the way. The central bank boosted its main virus-fighting tool, the pandemic emergency bond-buying programme (PEPP), by 500 billion euros ($600 billion) to 1.85 trillion euros and extended the scheme from June 2021 to March 2022. The ECB also kept its main interest rates at historic lows. London was up by 0.5 percent at the close, with the weaker pound boosting the FTSE 100 index because it lifts share prices of multinationals like oil companies that earn much of their profits in dollars. In the United States, new applications for unemployment benefits surged to 853,000, much higher than analysts had expected. US inflation ticked up to 0.2 percent in November, government data also showed, too low to prompt action by the US Federal Reserve. Back in Europe, after eight months of negotiations and with just three weeks until a deadline on reaching a post-Brexit deal, Brussels and London remained stuck on various issues including fishing rights and rules for fair trade. "We had a lively and interesting discussion on the state of play across the list of outstanding issues," von der Leyen said in a statement after dinner with Johnson at her Brussels' headquarters. "We gained a clear understanding of each other's positions. They remain far apart." London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 6,599.76 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.3 percent at 13,295.73 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP less than 0.1 percent at 5,549.65 (close) EURO STOXX 50: FLAT at 3,529.15 New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 30,012.68 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 26,756.24 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.4 percent at 26,410.59 (close) Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,373.28 (close) Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3285 from $1.3399 at 2200 GMT Euro/pound: UP at 91.17 pence from 90.16 pence Euro/dollar: UP at $1.2112 from $1.2104 Dollar/yen: UP at 104.38 yen from 104.16 yen West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.4 percent at $47.52 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.2 percent at $50.90 per barrel burs-rfj/wai/spm
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