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Dec 24 (Reuters) - European stock futures surged on Thursday
as a Brexit trade deal seemed almost at hand, with just a week
left for Britain's final exit from the European Union.
After months of wrangling, and amid warnings of no deal,
Britain and the European Union were on the cusp of striking a
narrow trade agreement, sources in London and Brussels said,
swerving away from an acrimonious split. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a late-night
conference call with his Cabinet of senior ministers, and
negotiators in Brussels pored over reams of legal trade texts,
sources said. Futures tracking an index of Europe's top 50 stocks STXEc1
was up 1.2%, while London's blue-chip index futures FFIc1 rose
half a percent, held back by a strong pound.
BBC reported that Johnson will speak to speak to the EU
chief Ursula von der Leyen at around 0700 GMT, and will hold a
news conference at around 0800 GMT.