The pound has surged to a six-month high against the euro after UK and EU negotiators agreed on the draft text of a Brexit divorce deal.

Theresa May will seek approval from ministers on the Withdrawal Agreement at an emergency Cabinet meeting tomorrow at 2pm and will reportedly speak to every Cabinet member one by one on the draft agreement this evening.

Renewed hopes in the City of Mrs May's Government forcing through a Brexit deal in time sent sterling surging on currency markets. The pound rallied as much 1.1pc against the euro to €1.1552, its highest level since April, before being pulled off its intraday highs by prominent Conservative backbenchers voicing their opposition to the deal.

"The sustainability of those gains will depend almost entirely on the Cabinet meeting tomorrow," argued Jeremy Thomson-Cook, economist at WorldFirst.

"Solidarity will lead to the pound gaining further, with a Brexiteer rebellion sure to burst any bubble of optimism."

The pound's surge and a record slump in oil prices held back the FTSE 100 as global markets rebounded. The blue-chip index trailed in the recovery after Brent crude, the UK benchmark oil price, plunged as much as 5pc to finish trading in London below $70 per barrel for the first time since April.

Oil prices were hit by Donald Trump blasting Opec for outlining plans to cut production to stem the recent price decline.