World stocks hit fresh record highs and pound edges back up to $1.25 as optimism improves

8:37AM
Agenda: Investors eye ECB meeting minutes
Good morning and welcome to our live markets coverage. 
Overnight, Asian stocks inched to new 19-month highs buoyed by an ongoing rally on Wall Street and bolstered by gains in Chinese stocks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2pc to its highest since July 2015.
Good morning from Berlin. Asia stock markets mixed w/ EM outperforms on weaker Dollar despite Fed hiking expectations being brought forward