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Weapons and fighter jet manufacturer BAE Systems has seen its shares soar higher as the defence sector received a boost following the Ukraine summit hosted by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend.
Shares in BAE hit a record high after jumping by 19% at one stage in Monday morning trading, helping the wider FTSE 100 Index lift to a new all-time high, up 0.5% at 8,856.5.
Cryptocurrencies also rebounded higher after US President Donald Trump announced plans for a new US strategic reserve of digital assets, including Bitcoin and other tokens.
Among stocks, engine maker Rolls-Royce followed closely behind BAE on the blue chip index, with a 6% rise amid the rally in the defence sector.
Sir Keir pledged to “develop a coalition of the willing” to defend a deal in Ukraine and guarantee a peace settlement as part of a plan discussed by leaders at Sunday’s Lancaster House meeting.
He also announced a £1.6 billion finance deal which will allow Ukraine to buy more than 5,000 missiles to be made by French defence and aerospace giant Thales Group in Belfast.
Sir Keir said on Sunday that the manufacturing deal for the lightweight multirole missiles (LMM) will create 200 jobs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the summit and afterwards flew to Sandringham to meet the King, with French President Emmanuel Macron also in attendance.
Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were also seated around the table of 19 leaders at the gathering in central London.
The summit comes after leaders rallied around Mr Zelensky following his confrontation with Mr Trump in the Oval Office on Friday.
Other stocks linked to the defence sector were enjoying sharp gains on Monday, with defence technology group QinetiQ up 9% in the FTSE 250, followed by Babcock International with a 7% rise and Chemring up 4%.
Among small cap stocks, there were big share increases for helmet and gas mask maker Avon Technologies – up 7% – while Cohort, which is a specialist in sonar, torpedo and communications, surged 10%.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “A show of co-operation among leaders at the weekend in London has reinforced expectations that military budgets will swell in a new era of collaboration to counter the Russian threat.”
In cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin rose to more than 92,000 US dollars (£72,761) on Monday morning, having gained more than 9% on Sunday as it was named alongside ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano.