London close: Equities rise on rally in energy and mining shares

London stocks rose on Monday as oil prices jumped and miners' shares rallied on an increase in metal prices.

The FTSE 100 ended up 0.75% to 7,097.24 points while the pound fell 0.38% against the dollar to $1.2387 on continued concerns about formal Brexit negotiations due by March 2017.

Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore were among the biggest risers on the FTSE 100, boosted by an increase in gold, silver and copper prices.

Royal Dutch Shell and BP advanced as oil prices shot higher after Russian President Vladimir Putin told an energy congress in Turkey that the nation was ready to join OPEC in a proposed curb on production.

Brent crude rose 2.6% to $53.32 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 2.9% to $51.35 per barrel at 1640 BST.

Rolls-Royce was also in the black after JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded its price target on the stock to 890p from 835p, saying it is the big FX winner in the UK aerospace and defence sector.

Bookmaker William Hill rallied after confirming it was in merger talks with Toronto-listed Amaya Inc, owner of the PokerStars website, having rejected offers from smaller UK rivals in the summer.

On the downside, Royal Bank of Scotland shares dropped after leaked documents reportedly showed the bank tried to profit from struggling businesses.

EasyJet flew lower again as Societe Generale downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ and slashed the price target to 820p from 1,150p following the airline’s profit warning last week, pointing to a double whammy of a soft demand environment and FX headwinds.

Domestic stocks took a hit amid ongoing worries about a hard Brexit, with housebuilders the standout losers. Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments were all weaker.

Elsewhere, it was Columbus Day in the US but the market was still open for trading with investors digesting the second US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the absence of other catalysts.

The pace is set to pick up on Tuesday when earnings season kicks off in the US with the release of Alcoa's results.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,097.24 0.75%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,978.90 -0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 3,577.01 0.61%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,265.00p 2.64%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,222.00p 2.51%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,323.00p 2.44%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,116.00p 2.30%
CRH (CRH) 2,721.00p 2.29%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,042.50p 2.11%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,732.50p 2.09%
Glencore (GLEN) 228.00p 1.97%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,831.00p 1.84%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 322.60p 1.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,701.00p -2.97%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 143.80p -2.64%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,430.00p -2.52%
easyJet (EZJ) 875.50p -2.29%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,091.00p -2.15%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 178.30p -1.98%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 470.40p -1.94%
St James's Place (STJ) 946.50p -1.71%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 971.00p -1.52%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 218.50p -1.31%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 254.10p 6.23%
Hunting (HTG) 534.00p 5.12%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 660.50p 4.51%
Evraz (EVR) 206.50p 4.35%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 200.70p 3.99%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 205.30p 3.53%
AO World (AO.) 178.00p 3.43%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 137.80p 3.14%
William Hill (WMH) 303.80p 3.12%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 1,825.00p 2.99%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 282.10p -5.59%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 176.00p -5.07%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 246.50p -4.68%
Marshalls (MSLH) 275.60p -4.47%
Clarkson (CKN) 1,949.00p -4.04%
Allied Minds (ALM) 344.20p -3.99%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,009.00p -3.81%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 985.00p -3.43%
Rank Group (RNK) 201.10p -3.32%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 240.00p -3.23%