London close: Stocks rise as polls put Clinton in the lead for US President

London stocks rose on Monday as the latest polls put Hillary Clinton in the lead in the US presidential election after the FBI cleared her of any wrongdoing.

The FTSE 100 closed up 1.70% to 6,806.90 points.

National polls conducted by Bloomberg and The Washington Post/ABC News both showed Clinton with a small lead over Donald Trump, the former by three points (44-41) and the latter by four points (44-40).

The poll results came after the FBI said over the weekend that a fresh inquiry into Democratic candidate Clinton’s communications found nothing to change the conclusion it had come to over the summer and that there had been no evidence of criminal wrongdoing after she used a private email server for government work.

Goldman Sachs said it continued to expect the Democratic contender to win the White House while Morgan Stanley and IG are also pricing in a Clinton presidency.

The dollar rose 0.92% against the euro, jumped 1.45% versus the yen and climbed 1.04% versus the pound to 1.2387.

The pound weakened further against the dollar after the secretary of state for exiting the European Union said there was “no going back” on Brexit.

David Davis confirmed the government will appeal the Article 50 High Court ruling that Parliament must vote on the triggering the formal Brexit process.

Meanwhile, a source told Sky News that the government was quietly preparing the first draft of a bill to invoke Article 50.

Elsewhere, a report from Markit showed Eurozone retail sales contracted further in October. The purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.6 last month from 49.6 in September, below the 50 level that separates a contraction from an expansion.

Separately, Eurostat revealed the seasonally-adjusted volume of retail trade among the 19 Eurozone countries dropped 0.2% month-on-month in September, the same as the revised fall from August but better than the 0.3% fall estimated by economists.

Compared to September last year, retail sales rose 1.1%, worse than the revised 1.2% increase seen a month ago and short of the consensus estimate of 1.3%.

The Sentix investor confidence index for the Eurozone, however, rose to 13.1 in November from 8.5 last month.

On the commodities front, oil prices edged higher after OPEC secretary general Mohammed Barkindo reiterated the cartel’s commitment to a deal to curb production. However, gains were limited as the dollar strengthened and as doubts persisted over the feasibility of OPEC’s plan.

Brent crude rose 0.17% to $45.66 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 0.78% to $44.42 per barrel at 1641 GMT.

In corporate news, HSBC gained ground as it said profits in the third quarter fell 86% compared to last year due to a disposal of its Brazilian bank, but underlying profits were higher in all four of its businesses.

Mining and energy stocks rallied on the positive sentiment surrounding a predicted Clinton win, including Glencore, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

One miner that missed out was Fresnillo, as the Mexican silver miner slumped after being hit by a slide in the price of silver and a stronger Mexican peso.

Burberry was strutting higher, ahead of its interim results on Wednesday. A recent second quarter update showed like-for-like sales improving.

Technology company Smiths Group ticked up as it sold its IVF product to US-based multinational CooperSurgical for £140m.

Inmarsat was on the front foot after Barclays upgraded its stance on the satellite company to ‘equalweight’ from ‘underweight’.

Drinks company Fever-Tree fizzed higher after saying it expects its full-year results to be ahead of market views following a solid performance in the second half.

Tesco shares fell after its Tesco Bank business halted online transactions as current account customers were hit by fraud.

Utilities stocks were lower, with analysts suggesting either bond yields bouncing back after the FBI news or record coal prices as possible reasons.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,806.90 1.70%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,457.66 1.08%
techMARK (TASX) 3,301.80 1.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 565.00p 6.30%
Glencore (GLEN) 251.20p 5.63%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,221.50p 4.76%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,122.50p 4.76%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 622.30p 4.62%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,470.00p 3.89%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,825.00p 3.57%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 907.00p 3.30%
Capita (CPI) 588.00p 3.25%
Prudential (PRU) 1,346.00p 3.18%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,576.00p -3.02%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,675.00p -1.69%
Tesco (TSCO) 200.20p -1.14%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 914.50p -0.97%
National Grid (NG.) 1,008.50p -0.84%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 279.80p -0.78%
ITV (ITV) 166.80p -0.71%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,231.00p -0.71%
Centrica (CNA) 209.10p -0.62%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,803.00p -0.47%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Countrywide (CWD) 188.90p 6.31%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 325.00p 5.59%
Evraz (EVR) 198.20p 5.48%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 292.60p 4.91%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,117.00p 4.49%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 745.50p 4.34%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 275.20p 4.21%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 184.20p 3.49%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 266.20p 3.42%
Temple Bar Inv Trust (TMPL) 1,127.00p 3.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

esure Group (ESUR) 188.80p -2.33%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 154.00p -1.85%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 260.90p -1.62%
IMI (IMI) 934.00p -1.48%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 234.00p -1.47%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 1,021.00p -1.26%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,597.00p -1.11%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 271.50p -1.09%
Pennon Group (PNN) 798.00p -1.05%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 516.00p -0.96%