London close: Stocks end on mixed note but higher for the week

London stocks recovered from an early bout of selling to end the session little changed as investors waited for more clarity on the outcome of the US presidential election, helped by a better-than-expected reading on the US jobs market and fresh news on the trans-Atlantic mergers and acquisitions front.

Nonetheless, as IG chief market analyst, Chris Beauchamp, pointed out, they had already rallied quite hard over the week.

"An action-packed week is drawing to a close, but it appears we may soon have an official result in the US election. Vote-counting goes on, but in Pennsylvania Joe Biden appears to have sufficient votes to give him the state and the 20 Electoral College votes to push him past 270," the analyst said.

"Of course, the Trump campaign is not giving up and this is why we have not seen much of a relief rally, although in all fairness the market has done that already this week, and in impressive style."

Against that backdrop, by the end of the session the FTSE 100 was up by 0.07% to 5,910.02, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.06% at 17,917.83. For the week, the top-flight index was ahead by 6%.

Sterling was also a bit higher, up 0.06% to 1.3156, having closed at 1.2947 last Friday.

Also in the States, the Department of Labor reported a 638,000 rise in non-farm payrolls for the month of October, which bested economists' median estimate for an increase of 580,000.

However, Pantheon Macroeconomics's chief economist, Ian Shepherdson, warned that with Covid-19 cases rapidly accelerating, an outright drop of about 500,000 was likely in November if recent trends in the Homebase small business employment numbers held up.

On home shores, Brexit was in focus after the National Audit Office said that UK trade with the EU will face "significant disruption" when the Brexit transition period ends.

The watchdog said it was "very unlikely" traders would be ready for checks the EU is due to impose at its borders and cautioned there wasn’t much time for UK ports to test new IT systems.

In equity markets, RSA Insurance was in the spotlight after it confirmed it is in talks to sell itself for £7.2bn to a consortium comprising Canada's Intact Financial Corp and Tryg A/S of Denmark. The consortium has proposed paying 685p a share in cash for the FTSE 100 insurer. RSA would pay its proposed interim dividend of 8p a share.

The shares were down 3%, having rocketed 46% into the close on Thursday on speculation of a takeover.

Other insurers were in the black, however, with Aviva, Legal & General, Prudential, Hiscox and Direct Line all up.

Codemasters jumped nearly 9% after the video game developer and publisher said that it would recommend an offer from US-based Take-Two Interactive if it was made binding.

Marine services company James Fisher slid after it reported a decline in revenue as it said trading in the third quarter remained challenging due to Covid-related restrictions.

EasyJet was down after the budget airline said it would fly no more than 20% of capacity for the rest of the year after new coronavirus lockdowns in England, Germany, and France.

Aveva also fell after announcing a £2.84bn rights issue to partly fund its acquisition of US software group OSIsoft.

Global insurer Beazley traded higher after an update in which it said gross written premiums rose 16% in the year to date driven by rate increases across all its divisions.

Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos owner Rank Group rallied after saying it raised £70m in an equity placing to strengthen its balance sheet. The company placed 77.7m shares at 90p each, which is 4.3% premium to the closing share price on Thursday.

Housebuilder Redrow gained after it reported a rise in reservation values as customers look for homes with more space to work based on coronavirus lockdown experiences.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,910.02 0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,917.83 -0.06%
techMARK (TASX) 3,735.86 -0.53%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 170.00p 3.57%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,622.00p 2.88%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,883.50p 2.87%
M&G (MNG) 158.80p 2.83%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,912.00p 2.76%
Evraz (EVR) 372.80p 2.70%
Tesco (TSCO) 217.80p 2.49%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,066.00p 2.45%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 534.60p 2.26%
Aviva (AV.) 278.10p 2.10%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 69.56p -6.66%
British Land Company (BLND) 373.50p -3.52%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 581.00p -3.30%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 649.00p -3.13%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 293.40p -2.65%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,054.00p -2.59%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,218.00p -2.56%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 533.50p -2.33%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,328.00p -2.18%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 126.70p -2.01%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 270.40p 8.86%
Rank Group (RNK) 93.10p 7.88%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,140.00p 6.47%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 261.50p 5.66%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 11,480.00p 5.62%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 941.60p 5.18%
BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 65.00p 4.84%
Vistry Group (VTY) 613.00p 4.79%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 313.00p 3.85%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 302.00p 3.78%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 802.00p -25.74%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 206.80p -4.96%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 162.80p -4.03%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,644.00p -3.85%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 444.00p -3.27%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 100.50p -3.27%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 213.20p -3.22%
Capita (CPI) 24.02p -3.14%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 1,228.00p -3.00%
easyJet (EZJ) 532.60p -2.63%