London midday: Stocks rise as investors focus on post-Trump positives

London stocks gained on Thursday as traders looked at the positives to come out of Donald Trump’s US election win.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.62% to 6,954.59 points.

“The prospect of generous US tax cuts, higher government spending on infrastructure and defence and a determination to cut back regulation such as Dodd Frank (the 2010 Wall Street reform act which imposed a host of tough rules on banks and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) is spurring the turnaround in market sentiment from the initial Trump related sell off,” according to Rabobank.

“Commodities such as iron ore and copper have been spurred higher by hopes of a surge in building projects and the resultant stirring of inflation expectations has reinvigorated expectations for a December rate cut after yesterday’s initial doubts.”

Trump’s presidency, however, is still associated with a considerable amount of uncertainty, the bank added.

Rabobank said while there is now unified party control in Washington, the Republican Party remains divided and Congress has considerable scope to limit Trump’s fiscal ideas.

The dollar recovered from the previous day’s slump, rising 0.17% against the pound, 1.11% versus the yen and 0.12% versus the euro.

Oil prices wavered after the monthly report from the International Energy Agency on Thursday revealed production rose by 230,000 barrels a day to a record high of 33.83 million barrels a day in October.

Brent crude rose 0.68% to $46.68 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.08% to $45.23 per barrel at 1129 GMT.

In economic data, British house prices rose in October at the fastest pace since April as a shortage of homes propped up the market. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors 'House Price Balance index jumped to 23% in October from 18% the previous month, surprising analysts who had expected no change.

The US sees the initial jobless claims report at 1330 GMT and hears from Fed speakers John Williams and James Bullard later in the afternoon.

Among corporate stocks, shares in Rio Tinto and Glencore rallied as HSBC initiated its coverage of the mining stocks with a ‘buy’ rating.

Prudential advanced as it agreed to sell its life insurance business in Korea, PCA Life Assurance, to Mirae Asset Life Insurance for £119m.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals shares dropped as it lowered its guidance on full year revenue slightly to $2bn from a previous $2bn-$2.1bn expectation.

Astrazeneca slid as it reported third quarter revenue fell 4% to $5.7bn, missing forecasts of $5.87bn, as generic versions of its best-selling medicine Crestor hurt sales.

ITV gained after saying total external revenues increased 5% to £2.15bn in the third quarter despite a 4% fall in advertising revenue. Non-advertising revenue drove the growth, rising 15% to £1.25bn.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,954.59 0.62%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,920.39 1.87%
techMARK (TASX) 3,400.12 0.84%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 770.00p 20.03%
Prudential (PRU) 1,526.50p 7.09%
CRH (CRH) 2,982.00p 6.12%
Glencore (GLEN) 286.70p 6.09%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,437.00p 5.90%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 203.60p 5.88%
Barclays (BARC) 204.05p 5.78%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 689.00p 5.42%
BAE Systems (BA.) 615.00p 5.13%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 232.60p 4.92%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 825.00p -10.33%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,666.00p -5.93%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,695.00p -5.90%
3i Group (III) 624.50p -4.73%
National Grid (NG.) 966.60p -3.87%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,481.00p -3.59%
Relx plc (REL) 1,326.00p -3.42%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,430.00p -3.18%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,712.00p -2.95%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,216.50p -2.85%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vedanta Resources (VED) 898.00p 14.98%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 350.30p 9.95%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,590.00p 9.88%
Evraz (EVR) 245.40p 9.70%
JRP Group (JRP) 130.00p 7.88%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,247.00p 7.69%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 271.90p 6.13%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 454.20p 6.02%
Hunting (HTG) 493.10p 6.02%
IP Group (IPO) 151.50p 6.02%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 518.50p -4.42%
Halfords Group (HFD) 329.60p -4.10%
Pennon Group (PNN) 796.00p -2.51%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 743.00p -2.37%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 160.80p -2.13%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,094.00p -2.10%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 643.50p -1.91%
William Hill (WMH) 287.70p -1.47%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,387.00p -1.35%
Workspace Group (WKP) 665.50p -1.33%