London open: Stocks rise as market continues to recover from Trump shock

London stocks opened on the front foot on Thursday as the market continued to recover from the initial shock of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

At 0819 GMT, the FTSE 100 rose 0.92% to 6,975.90 points.

The index had closed in the green on Wednesday, rebounding from a decline following the election of Trump.

Amid the uncertainty a Trump presidency brings, investors seemed to cheer the fact it meant a rate hike by the Federal Reserve is less likely in December. Trump also indicated further spending for infrastructure in a boost to industrial stocks.

Mining shares enjoyed a rise in gold prices, as investors sought safe havens, while pharmaceuticals rallied on the fact that a win by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would have meant a crackdown on regulation and drug prices.

“Now with Trump’s promises of big US fiscal spending on the horizon, including massive cut in taxes and less regulation, investors believe that US profit growth will rise sharply, inflation will return, and bonds’ yield curves will steepen,” said FXTM market strategist Hussein Sayed.

However, the dollar remained weaker, falling 0.31% versus the pound and 0.13% versus the euro. It recovered slightly against the yen, however, rising 0.03%.

Oil prices were marginally higher despite worries that OPEC will fail to deliver on its commitment to curb production. Brent crude rose 0.72% to $46.70 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate edged up 0.28% to $45.40 per barrel at 0824 GMT.

On the economic data front, 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 session.

Among corporate stocks, Astrazeneca edged slightly higher as a one-off tax windfall in the third quarter offset heavy investment into new drugs. The group posted a net profit of $1bn for the three months ended 30 September, up 32% on the same period a year earlier. However, 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.

Shares in electricity infrastructure operator National Grid fell slightly as it posted its half-year report, with adjusted earnings per share of 28.2p, in line with last year, and operating profit of £1.9bn, up 1% including favourable timing and the effect of foreign exchange.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals was under the cosh, even as it said that it is currently generating “good” revenue growth and expects revenue for the full year to rise by around 35% to $2bn at constant currency.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,968.26 0.82%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,733.61 0.81%
techMARK (TASX) 3,400.23 0.84%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 678.00p 5.69%
Glencore (GLEN) 281.10p 4.01%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,092.00p 3.98%
Prudential (PRU) 1,481.00p 3.89%
Barclays (BARC) 200.40p 3.89%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,233.00p 3.35%
St James's Place (STJ) 987.50p 3.29%
Pearson (PSON) 768.50p 3.22%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,165.50p 3.16%
Standard Life (SL.) 363.30p 2.71%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 894.00p -2.83%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,950.00p -2.32%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,737.00p -1.92%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,289.00p -0.66%
BP (BP.) 455.25p -0.62%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,526.00p -0.51%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 217.00p -0.46%
Tesco (TSCO) 198.85p -0.40%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 237.80p -0.38%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,559.00p -0.36%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aldermore Group (ALD) 203.30p 7.28%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 836.50p 7.11%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,539.00p 6.36%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 338.30p 6.18%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 211.00p 4.09%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 372.70p 3.90%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 264.50p 3.24%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 398.50p 3.24%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,677.00p 2.88%
Henderson Group (HGG) 231.00p 2.85%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Halfords Group (HFD) 330.80p -3.75%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,077.00p -2.90%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 252.30p -1.83%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 533.00p -1.75%
William Hill (WMH) 287.00p -1.71%
F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd. (FCPT) 130.00p -1.37%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 114.00p -0.87%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 796.50p -0.75%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 129.50p -0.61%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 163.40p -0.55%