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(Alliance News) - Equities in London remained buoyant at midday on Monday on news of US President Donald Trump's health improving after catching the novel coronavirus last week.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 charged higher despite heavy share price losses for Cineworld, after it announced the temporary closure of movie theatres in the US and UK. Meanwhile, hospitality stocks rose after the UK's final services PMI for September beat the initial reading.

The FTSE 100 index was up 42.83 points, or 0.7%, at 5,944.95 Monday midday. The FTSE 250 index was up 139.67 points, or 0.8%, at 17,535.48. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.5% at 969.87.

The Cboe UK 100 index was up 1.0% at 591.35. The Cboe 250 was up 1.2% at 14883.89, and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.7% at 9299.24.

In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7% in early afternoon trade and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt rose 0.6%.

"Market risk sentiment has started the week in positive fashion, buoyed by the improved assessment given by health officials on US President Trump's condition," said Lloyds Bank.

European markets moved higher as US President Trump's doctors touted the possibility of him leaving hospital on Monday after his health improved following last week's Covid-19 diagnosis.

In a briefing outside Walter Reed medical centre, they said Trump's oxygen levels had briefly dropped twice in recent days and that he is being treated with steroids, while continuing to provide an upbeat assessment of the 74-year-old's health and outlook.

"The president has continued to improve," said his White House physician, Sean Conley. "As with any illness, there are frequent ups and downs over the course."

Conley said the president was flown to Walter Reed hospital on Friday after a "rapid progression" of his illness, with his oxygen levels dropping worryingly low.

Meanwhile, rival presidential candidate Joe Biden – who announced Sunday his latest negative test for the virus – will start the week with a trip Monday to key swing state Florida.

Wall Street is on course for an upbeat start, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 pointed up 0.6% and the Nasdaq seen 0.9% higher.

To come in Monday's economic calendar is a Markit US services PMI at 1445 BST, followed by a report from the ISM at 1500 BST.

Already out, the UK's all-important service sector continued to expand solidly in September, albeit at a slower pace than the month before.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK services purchasing managers' index fell to 56.1 in September from August's 58.8. August's reading was the strongest since 2015.

While September's reading was the lowest since June, the index still pointed to a "marked" rate of growth, said IHS Markit. Further, it beat the flash reading of 55.1.

"PMI data showing that the services sector is proving more resilient than expected has helped lift shares in beleaguered hospitality firms," commented Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Pub firm JD Wetherspoon was up 3.7% at midday, while peer Mitchells & Butlers was up 2.9% and Premier Inn hotel chain owner Whitbread up 1.2%.

"Despite the tightening of restrictions and the end of the government subsidised Eat Out to Help Out scheme, the majority of companies questioned still reported growth in activity in September," said Streeter. "It's a welcome respite given how stark revenue losses have been during the pandemic for pub, restaurants and hotel chains."

The pound moved a touch higher as well. Sterling was quoted at USD1.2949 midday Monday, firm on USD1.2939 at the London equities close on Friday.

In the eurozone, however, the service sector tipped into contraction in September.

The IHS Markit eurozone PMI services business activity index slipped to 48.0 in September, down from 50.5 in August, marking the lowest level since May.

"A second successive monthly reduction in overall new business was signalled by September's survey, with Germany again the only nation to record any growth. Export business was also down markedly, extending the current period of contraction to over two years," IHS Markit said.

The euro traded at USD1.1752, up on USD1.1717 late Friday.

Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY105.64 Monday midday in London versus JPY105.34 late Friday.

Gold was quoted at USD1,899.70 an ounce on Monday, lower than USD1,906.50 on Friday. Brent oil was trading at USD40.64 a barrel, up from USD39.48 late Friday.

In London, Vodafone shares rose 3.4% after the telecommunications firm noted progress on the merger of Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel following the satisfaction of certain conditions.

The merger - first agreed in April 2018 - will see Vodafone merge its Indian mobile tower joint venture with a local rival to create the world's second largest tower mobile company.

The FTSE 100-listed telecoms company said the agreement to proceed with the merger was conditional on consent for a security package for the benefit of the combined company from Vodafone's existing lenders for the EUR1.3 billion loan used to fund Vodafone's contribution to the Vodafone Idea rights issue in 2019. On Monday, Vodafone stated that consent has now been received from its lenders, adding that all parties will now approach the National Company Law Tribunal to make the merger scheme effective.

Weir remained at the top of the FTSE 250, rallying 17% after the engineering firm agreed to sell its entire Oil & Gas division to US-based Caterpillar for a USD405 million enterprise value.

The Glasgow-headquartered company said the decision follows its February announcement that it would seek to maximise value from Oil & Gas as part of its strategic transformation into a premium mining technology pure play.

Net proceeds of the sale of Weir Oil & Gas will be used to reduce the company's leverage, with pro forma net debt to earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation on a pro forma basis of 1.9 times as of June 30. The sale is expected to complete by 2020 end.

At the other end of the mid-caps was Cineworld, tumbling 34% after deciding to temporarily shutter its UK and US movie theatres, affecting 45,000 jobs.

The cinema chain operator said it will halt operations at all its 536 Regal theatres in the US and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK starting Thursday.

Cineworld stated that while the decision was not made lightly, the continued closure of major US markets and uncertainty regarding the timing of re-openings has made studios reluctant to release their pipeline of new films.

The firm's statement comes just days after the release of the latest James Bond film was pushed back again.

"The best-case scenario is that the pandemic is reined in, studios release their films and customers are happy to return to cinemas, but Cineworld will still probably need to raise fresh cash to see it through, unless this happens much more quickly that MGM and the team behind the James Bond franchise currently expect," commented Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Greencore shares fell 7.6% after the convenience foods manufacture guided to a slump in full-year earnings.

For the year ended September 25, the FTSE 250-listed firm has forecast an adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP85 million, down 40% from GBP142.0 million reported the year before. Meanwhile, revenue for the period is expected to be GBP1.27 billion, a 12% decline from GBP1.45 billion.

More positively, for the fourth quarter of financial 2020, revenue declined by 19%, reflecting an improvement from the 36% drop in the third quarter, supported by a continued increase in demand for food to go categories.

By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com

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