4th Jan 2021 17:10
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London started 2021 on the front foot on Monday as the UK began rolling out the second of its approved Covid-19 vaccines, raising hope the fight against a resurgent virus will accelerate.
The UK on Monday began rolling out the AstraZeneca-Oxford University coronavirus vaccine, a possible game-changer in fighting the disease worldwide. An 82-year-old man became the first person in the world to receive the new Covid jab outside a clinical trial.
Brian Pinker, a retired maintenance manager from Oxford in south central England, received the jab at the city's Churchill Hospital, the National Health Service said.
Even as the UK's second vaccine rollout of 530,000 doses began, Scotland's devolved government said the nation would impose a lockdown on its more than five million people for the rest of January. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address the nation to lay out what his spokesman said were steps to tackle the "rapidly escalating case numbers" blamed on a new variant of the virus.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 111.36 points, or 1.7%, at 6,571.88. The mid-cap FTSE 250 ended up 49.59 points, or 0.2%, at 20,537.89. The AIM All-Share closed up 4.33 points, or 0.4%, at 1,161.37.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 1.7% at 654.91, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.7% at 17,847.41, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.4% at 11,685.07.
In Paris the CAC 40 ended 0.7% up, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended 0.1% up.
"The FTSE 100 is the standout performer of European indices as mining and pharma stocks have boosted the British index. A rally in industrial metals has lifted BHP Group, Rio Tinto, Glencore and Anglo America and they are some of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 in terms of index points," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden. "The distribution of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine is also behind the broader positive move in European stocks."
The FTSE 350 Mining sector index, which houses London's large cap miners, ended the best performing sector, up 5.7%.
On the London Stock Exchange, Entain ended the best blue chip performer, up 25% at 1,420 pence. The gambling firm, which owns Ladbrokes-Coral, confirmed it received takeover interest from US partner MGM Resorts International.
Entain said the offer represents a value of 1,383 pence per share, a 22% premium to its 1,133.50p closing price on New Year's Eve. MGM's bid "undervalues" the company, Entain said. MGM shares were down 4.2% in New York.
Gold miners Fresnillo and Polymetal International ended up 11% and 9.3% respectively, tracking spot gold prices higher.
The precious metal was quoted at USD1,940.70 an ounce at the London equities close, sharply higher against USD1,894.00 at the close on Thursday, as the dollar weakened.
"Gold's New Years resolution to return to record high territory got off to a great start. A dollar in freefall kickstarted gold's rally and expectations are high that will continue with a Biden administration that includes former-Fed chair Yellen running the Treasury. Light at the end of the COVID-tunnel is driving the reflation trade and that is expected to be the catalyst that takes gold back to record highs," said Oanda Markets analyst Edward Moya.
At the other end of the large caps, JD Sports Fashion closed down 5.3% after Exane BNP downgraded the sportswear retailer to Neutral from Outperform.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3587 at the London equities close, down from USD1.3656 at the London equities close on Thursday.
The euro stood at USD1.2275 at the European equities close, flat from USD1.2273 at the close on Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY103.10, higher from JPY103.06.
The dollar made a slight recovery against major counterparts following positive US economic data. The US manufacturing sector saw its most remarkable improvement in health in over six years in December, IHS Markit said.
The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit final US manufacturing purchasing managers' index came in at 57.1 points in December, up from 56.7 in November. The reading remained well above the 50.0 mark which separates expansion from contraction.
Markit said the upturn in December was the sharpest since September 2014.
Earlier, the UK posted a similarly robust PMI reading, with the manufacturing sector registering its best performance in more than three years in December.
The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit-CIPS manufacturing PMI print was 57.5 in December, up from 55.6 in November. Any number above 50.0 denotes expansion, and a number below, says the industry is in contraction territory.
Stocks in New York were starting 2021 on the back foot, as investors remained fixated on the coronavirus pandemic, with the US seeing hospitalisations at a record-high of 125,544 on Sunday.
The DJIA was down 1.8%, the S&P 500 index down 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.3%.
Brent oil was quoted at USD51.04 a barrel at the equities close, marginally lower from USD51.10 at the close on New Year's eve.
Members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their partners are meeting via videoconference Monday to decide production levels for February, which it hopes to continue boosting.
Despite a slight recovery of prices towards the end of last year, the 13 members of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and their ten allies, led by Russia, are still suffering under a highly volatile market.
Speaking at the beginning of Monday's meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told his counterparts that "as we see light at the end of the tunnel, we must at all costs avoid the temptation to slacken off in our resolve".
The economic events calendar on Tuesday has Germany retail sales and unemployment figures at 0700 GMT and 0855 GMT respectively.
The UK corporate calendar on Tuesday has trading statements from fashion retailer Next and grocer WM Morrison Supermarkets.
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]
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