London | Stockmarkets exploded with euphoria after drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech said their COVID-19 vaccine was proving 90 per cent effective, fuelling hopes that an end to the pandemic nightmare is within reach.

The US, French, German and British markets piled on well over 4 per cent in a frenzied mid-morning surge on Monday, with some stocks in the airline, leisure and hospitality stocks soaring as much as 40 per cent.