26th Oct 2020 17:09
(Alliance News) - Turmoil ahead of the US election, as well as climbing Covid-19 cases, caused stocks to end firmly in the red on Monday.
"Investors have lost no time in getting on board the wave of selling this afternoon, with nearly 700 points wiped off the Dow and the FTSE 100 reversing its small morning gains to join the rest of Europe in the red. Rising virus cases, tightening restrictions, a full week of earnings and of course the presidential election have all given investors a reason to cut back on risk as the final week of October begins," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
The FTSE 100 index closed 1.2%, or 68.27 points lower at 5,792.01. The FTSE 250 ended 1.4%, or 256.27 points lower, at 17,853.30, and the AIM All-Share closed 0.4%, or 4.07 points lower, at 976.38
The Cboe UK 100 ended 1.0% lower at 575.71, the Cboe 250 closed down 1.5% at 15,101.20, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.3% at 9,693.07.
In Paris the CAC 40 ended 1.9% lower, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended steeply lower, down 3.7%.
Spain declared a national state of emergency on Sunday to tackle a second coronavirus wave as the World Health Organization reported a third straight day of record new infections across the world.
The WHO has warned that some countries are on a "dangerous track", with too many witnessing an exponential increase in cases, and called on countries to take further action to curb the spread of the disease.
In total, the UN agency's figures showed that 465,319 cases were declared on Saturday alone, half of them in Europe.
In Germany, Frankfurt became the latest city to cancel its traditional Christmas market.
Covid-19 has now claimed the lives of 1.1 million people – a fifth of them in the US – and infected more than 42 million globally.
The US remains the hardest-hit country on the planet, and on Saturday it set a daily record for new Covid-19 cases for the second straight day, at nearly 89,000, with a further surge expected as cold weather arrives.
Stocks in New York was in the red at the London equities close. The DJIA was down 2.9%, the S&P 500 index down 2.4% and the Nasdaq Composite down 2.1%.
A divided US Senate on Sunday narrowly advanced President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, setting up her contentious but all-but-certain final confirmation on Monday, just eight days before the presidential election.
In a rare weekend session, the Senate's Republican majority overcame a filibuster by Democrats, and Barrett's nomination cleared a procedural hurdle, 51 votes to 48, to limit debate on Trump's nominee.
Barrett's nomination process, which would essentially lock in a 6-to-3 conservative majority on the high court, has moved with uncommon speed.
Trump, who is trailing in polls against his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, said he wants the 48-year-old Barrett confirmed before the November 3 election and in place in the event the court has to hear an election-related challenge.
This came after US Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, the latest in a list of figures connected to Donald Trump's administration to do so.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3017 at the London equities close, down from USD1.3050 at the same time on Friday.
The euro stood at USD1.1818 at the European equities close, down from USD1.1840.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY104.85, up from JPY104.80 late Friday.
Brent oil was quoted at USD40.38 a barrel at the equities close, falling from USD42.25.
Safe haven Gold was trading higher. The precious metal was quoted at USD1,903.80 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,900.50 on Friday.
In UK company news, Coca-Cola European Partners said it has made a non-binding offer to acquire Coca-Cola Amatil from investors and US brand owner Coca-Cola Co to extend its consumer reach and create a broader and more balanced company footprint.
The Uxbridge, Middlesex-based soft-drinks bottler said it plans to acquire 69% of Sydney-based Coca-Cola Amatil from investors, as well as the remaining 31% from Coca-Cola Co, for a total value of AUD8.7 billion.
Coca-Cola Amatil is a bottler and distributor of ready-to-drink non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages and coffee in the Asia Pacific region, operating in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. It posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of AUD1.0 billion in 2019 on revenue of AUD5.1 billion.
Coca-Cola European Partners also said its revenue for the third quarter ended September 25 was down 3.0% to EUR3.8 billion from EUR3.28 billion a year prior.
Volume was down 4% to 665 million cases from 691 million cases a year before. Revenue per unit case was up 1.0% to EUR4.80 each from EUR4.77 a year prior.
The company declared an interim dividend of EUR0.85 per share, up from EUR0.65 a year prior, maintaining its annualised dividend payout ratio of 50%. Its shares finished 0.1% lower.
Wealth manager St James's Place said it will engage with shareholder PrimeStone Capital LLP after it received a letter from the investor calling for an overhaul of the company's cost base.
The FTSE 100-listed company said it looks forward to commencing a discussion with the 1.2% stakeholder after London-based PrimeStone stated it believes St James has failed to deliver meaningful value over the last five years despite a doubling of assets.
PrimeStone stated that following an in-depth analysis carried out over the past year, it has concluded that St James' share price does not reflect the full value of the strength of its business model, its leadership position, or its long-term growth potential. It added that it has found that the underperformance is mostly due to the "suboptimal management" of SJP's cost base.
St James's Place, which ended down 0.8% on Monday, is set to post its third quarter results on Tuesday.
Tuesday's corporate calendar also has third quarter results from Asia-focused bank HSBC Holdings early at 0400 GMT. In the FTSE 100, oil major BP puts out third quarter results while Premier Inn-owner Whitbread releases its half-year results.
In the FTSE 250, online trading services provider Plus500 will post third quarter results Tuesday while power generation firm ContourGlobal Group and Dechra Pharmaceuticals release trading statements.
The economic calendar for Tuesday eurozone monetary developments at 0900 GMT, and French PPI at 0745 GMT. The afternoon has the US advance report on durable goods at 1230 GMT, the Johnson Redbook retail sales index at 1255 GMT, and the US monthly house price index print at 1300 GMT.
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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