London close: Stocks extend vaccine-induced gains
London stocks closed in positive territory again on Tuesday, as investors continued to cheer upbeat news on Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine.
The FTSE 100 ended the session up 1.79% at 6,296.85, and the FTSE 250 was ahead 0.94% at 19,028.34.
Sterling was also in the green, last rising 0.59% on the dollar to $1.3244 and advancing 0.59% against the euro to €1.1211.
“Stock markets in Europe are showing strong gains again on the back of optimism surrounding the potential Covid-19 vaccine,” said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
“Pfizer and BioNTech are developing a drug that has the potential to become a vaccine for the coronavirus, and yesterday it was announced that the drug achieved more than a 90% success rate in a late stage trial.
“The news triggered a huge equity market rally yesterday, and that bullish sentiment is still doing the rounds.”
Madden said that broadly speaking, airlines, hospitality and transport stocks were showing strong gains again.
“Those industries were arguably the hardest hit by the pandemic, and in the past 24 hours, they have been in high demand, as arguably they have the most to gain from life returning to normal.
“The EU is one step closer to pressing ahead with its €1.8 trillion budget, and that has helped the mood too.”
On the macroeconomic front, figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rose in September as the coronavirus pandemic continues to dent the jobs market.
The unemployment rate increased to 4.8% from 4.5% in August, in line with analyst’s expectations.
It also showed that the number of workers on payrolls fell by 782,000 between March and October, with a 33,000 decline last month.
Meanwhile, redundancies hit a record high of 314,000, up 181,000 on the quarter.
Vacancies continued to recover but are still below the levels seen before the impact of the pandemic.
There were an estimated 525,000 vacancies in August to October, up 146,000.
“The latest monthly tax numbers show over three-quarters of a million fewer employees on the payroll in October than in March,” said ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics, Jonathan Athow.
"Unemployment grew sharply in the three months to September, with many of those who lost their jobs earlier in the pandemic beginning to look for work again.”
Atlow noted that the number of redundancies also reached a record high.
"Vacancies continued to recover from the very low numbers seen earlier in the year.
“However, these figures predate the reintroduction of restrictions in many parts of the UK.”
In equity markets, stocks with particular exposure to the pandemic and related restrictions rallied, with engine maker Rolls-Royce ahead 7% and British Airways parent IAG rising 5.88%.
Cineworld rocketed 18.13%, Upper Crust owner SSP was 9.33% firmer, tour operator TUI was 4% higher, and pub chain Mitchells & Butlers advanced 8.11%.
Outsourcing contractor Capita surged 26.91% after it said third-quarter trading was in line with expectations and delivered a small rise in core profit.
On the downside, stocks that have benefited from Covid-related restrictions and lockdowns fell, with Just Eat Takeaway and Ocado both lower, by 3.36% and 5.21%, respectively.
Flutter Entertainment was knocked 4.48% lower by a downgrade at Peel Hunt, and Persimmon lost 3.87% even as the housebuilder declared a second dividend of 70p a share and reported a rise in forward sales driven by strong demand and selling prices.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,296.85 1.79%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,028.34 0.94%
techMARK (TASX) 3,917.15 2.05%
FTSE 100 - Risers
BT Group (BT.A) 117.80p 12.51%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 323.40p 7.80%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,678.00p 7.04%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 107.00p 7.00%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,336.50p 5.99%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 138.20p 5.88%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,542.00p 5.76%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,525.00p 5.54%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,443.50p 5.36%
BP (BP.) 241.70p 5.11%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,012.00p -6.73%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,164.00p -5.21%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 12,790.00p -4.48%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,682.00p -3.87%
Ferguson (FERG) 8,000.00p -3.85%
SEGRO (SGRO) 871.20p -3.73%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 8,262.00p -3.53%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,154.00p -3.36%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,200.00p -3.15%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 568.60p -3.10%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Capita (CPI) 32.97p 26.91%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 47.75p 18.13%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 152.75p 15.90%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 137.80p 13.51%
SSP Group (SSPG) 321.20p 13.34%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,970.00p 11.35%
Rank Group (RNK) 127.40p 10.78%
FirstGroup (FGP) 58.60p 10.25%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 131.75p 10.16%
Energean (ENOG) 622.10p 9.91%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Premier Foods (PFD) 92.70p -10.00%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 253.80p -8.38%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 2,515.00p -7.20%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,160.00p -6.45%
Carnival (CCL) 1,153.50p -6.18%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 223.60p -6.05%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 2,105.00p -5.61%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 165.40p -5.11%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 262.00p -5.07%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 10,100.00p -4.63%