London open: Stocks gain as investors eye US election, rate announcements

London stocks rose in early trade on Monday as investors eyed a busy week that includes the US presidential election and policy announcements in the UK and across the pond.

At 0845 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 8,215.17.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Investors are bracing for a week of potential volatility, with the highly fractious US Presidential election in focus and key interest rate decisions looming. For now, the FTSE 100 has shaken off nervousness and opened in the green, making fresh gains after Friday’s recovery.

"Miners and banks were on the front foot in early trade and energy giants have helped offset wariness by gaining ground of the back of a stronger oil price. The benchmark Brent Crude has extended gains, to trade around $74.5 a barrel after the cartel OPEC+ again delayed plans to increase output for a month.

"As Republicans and Democrats embark on a last-minute surge of campaigning, some of the big Trump ‘plays’ on the markets have lost ground. Investors are reassessing Donald Trump’s chances of re-entering the White House, given polls which emerged over the weekend, indicating Kamala Harris may have gained ground in key battle ground states.

"The dollar has fallen back slightly, as the chances of Trump setting off a fresh tariff frenzy, pushing up inflation and interest rates, seem to have retreated a little. Bitcoin, which had also made strides of progress as markets priced in a Trump win, given his pro-crypto stance, has also continued to dip back. But this election is still far too close to call, so considerable swings in prices are likely as the results ebb in."

As far as central bank announcements are concerned, Streeter said the chances of borrowing costs coming down in the US this week "look bolted on", given the much weaker than expected jobs data on Friday.

"Markets are largely expecting a follow up 0.25% cut in December, but will be watching comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell to back up those expectations," she added.

The BoE is also widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points on Thursday.

In equity markets, Frasers Group was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 as RBC Capital Markets upgraded the shares to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’. It said the current valuation fails to discount the likely resilience of its Sports Retail business, its property value and its strategic stakes, for instance in Hugo Boss.

Burberry shot higher after online fashion publication Miss Tweed suggested over the weekend that Italy’s Moncler could be considering a bid for the luxury fashion brand.

Anglo American rose as it announced the A$1.6bn (£0.8bn) sale of a stake in the Jellinbah joint venture in Australia as part of its strategy to exit the steelmaking coal industry.

Ryanair was in focus as the airline cut its full-year traffic forecast and reported a drop in first-half profits, as it took a hit from lower fares and Boeing delays.

Reckitt Benckiser was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘market perform’ at Bernstein, while Smith & Nephew fell after Jefferies slashed its price target on the shares.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,215.17 0.46%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,544.54 0.32%
techMARK (TASX) 4,645.83 0.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Frasers Group (FRAS) 782.50p 2.02%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 125.80p 1.78%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,433.00p 1.54%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,980.00p 1.27%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 55.08p 1.21%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,100.00p 1.21%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 545.50p 1.21%
BT Group (BT.A) 141.90p 1.18%
Shell (SHEL) 2,608.50p 1.14%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 717.20p 1.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,927.00p -1.34%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 956.80p -1.03%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 867.80p -0.64%
Sage Group (SGE) 980.00p -0.51%
GSK (GSK) 1,415.00p -0.32%
IMI (IMI) 1,667.00p -0.30%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,760.00p -0.29%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,091.00p -0.27%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 911.40p -0.26%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 842.20p -0.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hilton Food Group (HFG) 960.00p 3.78%
Premier Foods (PFD) 195.00p 2.96%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 835.60p 2.91%
IP Group (IPO) 46.45p 1.86%
Energean (ENOG) 991.50p 1.74%
Harworth Group (HWG) 178.00p 1.71%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 74.10p 1.65%
Asia Dragon Trust (DGN) 439.00p 1.62%
Chemring Group (CHG) 361.50p 1.54%
SSP Group (SSPG) 164.70p 1.54%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Elementis (ELM) 129.60p -2.11%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,125.00p -2.04%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 228.60p -1.47%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 85.50p -1.38%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,555.00p -1.25%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,670.00p -1.18%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 89.30p -1.00%
Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 140.60p -0.99%
Genus (GNS) 2,080.00p -0.95%
Scottish American Inv Company (SAIN) 499.00p -0.80%