London — Signs of progress with US tax cuts and Europe’s Brexit negotiations brought fresh highs for world stocks on Wednesday, while bitcoin topped $10,000 in a frenzy for cryptocurrencies. Britain’s pound was also in focus, topping $1.34 for the first time since October on reports that Britain has offered as much as €50bn — most of what the EU wants — to settle a Brexit "divorce bill". Sterling’s strength did push London’s FTSE into the red, but elsewhere the mood was almost exclusively upbeat, particularly in bank stocks after the soon-to-be head of the Federal Reserve said some regulations could be scaled back. Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC, Milan and Madrid were all up between 0.5% and 0.7% and MSCI’s all-country world index was at yet another record peak after all four major Wall Street indices notched up new highs on Tuesday. "It seems to me markets are still trading on the theory that the glass is half full," said fund manager Hermes chief economist Neil Williams. Asian share ...
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