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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Monday, with oil majors leading the FTSE 100, as investors look ahead to a busy week of corporate earnings and the UK autumn budget later in the week.
The large-cap index was up 20.15 points, or 0.3%, at 7,224.69 early Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 22.36 points, or 0.1%, at 22,954.00. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.1%, at 1,235.56.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.2% at 716.01. The Cboe 250 was up 0.2% at 20,671.52, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 15,528.34.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was down 0.2% while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.1% early Monday.
In the FTSE 100, shares in oil majors were the best performers with BP, Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and 'B' up 1.6%, 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively, tracking spot oil prices higher.
Brent oil was trading at USD86.10 a barrel on Monday morning, up from USD84.77 late Friday.
HSBC Holdings was up 0.5% after it reported a sharp rise in profit in the third quarter, emboldening the lender to embark on a USD2 billion share buyback.
China-focused HSBC had a tumultuous 2020 as its fortunes took a hammering from both the coronavirus and simmering geopolitical tensions.
In the three months to September 30, the bank reported pretax profit of USD5.40 billion, up sharply from USD3.07 billion the year before.
HSBC benefited from a USD659 million expected credit benefit compared to a USD785 million charge a year before.
"HSBC has indicated that it has weathered the storm and that the worst is behind it. Quite apart from a share buyback programme of up to USD2 billion, the current dividend yield of 3.7% is an equal show of confidence in prospects as well as effectively paying shareholders to wait while the next leg of growth is sought. The shares have also seen the benefit of the improvement in the bank's fortunes, having risen by 42% over the last year, as compared to a rise of 23% for the wider FTSE 100," said interactive investor's Richard Hunter.
In the FTSE 250, Plus500 was up 2.9%. The online trading company said its performance in the third quarter was resilient, despite falling behind last year's performance, and that its annual results should come in ahead of analyst expectations.
In the three months to the end of September, the online trading platform reported a 2.3% slip in revenue to GBP211.4 million from GBP216.4 million a year before, but it has nearly doubled from GBP110.6 million from the third quarter of 2019.
Plus500 added 26,169 new customers in the third quarter, slowed sharply from 46,238 in the same period the year before, but 7.4% ahead of the 24,359 two years ago. Active customers, which includes customers who made at least one real money trade during the period, stood at 166,310, down from 197,976 the year before but up from 110,939 two years ago.
Looking ahead, Plus500 expects annual 2021 revenue and Ebitda to be ahead of current compiled analysts' consensus forecasts. Current company-compiled consensus forecasts annual revenue of USD55.8 million and Ebitda of USD277.9 million. In 2020, it recorded revenue of USD872.5 million and Ebitda of USD515.9 million.
Weir Group was up 2.7% after Exane BNP upgraded the engineer to Outperform from Neutral.
Asian markets were mixed on Monday following last week's gains, with investors keeping a worried eye on a fresh Covid outbreak in China that could drag on the already stuttering economy.
China reported 39 new domestic infections on Monday, in an outbreak spread by a travelling group of tourists in the latest test of the country's zero-tolerance approach with just over 100 days until the start of the Winter Olympics.
The latest spike has forced authorities to reimpose strict containment measures, but there are fears of a wider lockdown that would weigh on economic growth. Recent outbreaks this year played a role in the below-par expansion seen in the third quarter.
In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was flat in late trade. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.3%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3775 early Monday, little changed from USD1.3773 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1645, flat from USD1.1650. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY113.66, flat from JPY113.68.
Gold stood at USD1,798.47 an ounce, down from USD1,809.80 late Friday.
The economic events calendar on Monday has Germany Ifo business climate index readings at 0900 BST.
In the UK corporate calendar later this week, there are interim results from hospitality firm Whitbread on Tuesday and third-quarter results from drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday. On Thursday, there are third-quarter earnings from lender Lloyds and oil major Royal Dutch Shell, while bank NatWest posts third-quarter numbers on Friday.
All eyes later in the week will be on the UK's tax and spend plans as Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils his latest government budget on Wednesday.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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