FTSE 100 hits 22-month high as shares recover Covid crisis losses – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

• Full story: FTSE 100 returns to pre-pandemic level as Omicron fears ease
• FTSE 100 has recovered losses since crash of 2020
• Introduction: Markets end 2021 on upbeat note
• Oil rallies but gas prices fall back
• Air travel in and out of UK slumps by 71% in 2021 amid pandemic
• US S&P 500 hit 69th high of the year on Monday
• Omicron is not the same disease' as earlier Covid waves, says UK scientist

Although London has rallied to 22-month highs, Asia-Pacific markets dipped today as Omicron fears still lingered.

South Korea's KOSPI fell 1.1%, while China's CSI 300 lost almost 1.5%.

Vaccination rates vary greatly across Asia and even those countries with a very high uptake level have yet to get started with booster jabs. Hence, there's a fair bit of uncertainty hanging over the growth picture in the first few months of 2022.

These jitters, combined with ongoing concerns about China's regulatory crackdown on its tech sector are weighing slightly on Asian markets today. Shares in Hong Kong, China and South Korea fell the most.

UK households face a hit of 1,200 next year as stalling wages and rising tax and energy bills cause a cost of living catastrophe" in the spring, a leading thinktank has warned.

Government measures, including the new social care levy on national insurance and the freezing of the personal income tax allowance, will combine with high inflation to make 2022 the year of the squeeze", the Resolution Foundation said.