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(Alliance News) -Â Stocks in London opened higher at the start of the week on news that US President Donald Trump's health is improving after testing positive for coronavirus last week.
Bookending the FTSE 250 on Monday were Weir and Cineworld, with the latter's shares dropping nearly 50% on news it will be suspending operations in the US and UK.
The FTSE 100 index was up 41.27 points, or 0.7%, at 5,943.39 early Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was also up 0.7%, or 117.06 points, at 17,512.87. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.3% at 967.57.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.9% at 591.02. The Cboe 250 was up 1.0% at 14,850.13, and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.2% at 9,252.27.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 1.1% in opening dealings and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt rose 1.0%.
European markets opened higher after US President Donald Trump's doctors said he has "continued to improve" as he is treated for Covid-19 at a military hospital near Washington, adding that he could be discharged as early as Monday.
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 on Friday after a "rapid progression" of his illness, with his oxygen levels dropping worryingly low.
"There is no doubt that the primary focus among investors and traders is going to remain on Donald Trump's health this week," commented Naeem Aslam at AvaTrade.
"Any news about the improvement of his health is likely to bring relief to markets," said Aslam. "This is because it eliminates the uncertainty in relation to the US election as speculators believe that if Trump does not recover in time, there is a possibility of delay in the US presidential election."
The economic calendar on Monday has services PMIs from Germany, the eurozone and the UK at 0855 BST, 0900 BST and 0930 BST respectively.
Eurozone retail sales are at 1000 BST and there is a Markit US services PMI at 1445 BST, followed by a report from the ISM at 1500 BST.
The pound and euro were lacklustre ahead of the raft of European PMIs.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2913 early Monday, down on USD1.2939 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at USD1.1724 early Monday, up slightly on USD1.1717 late Friday.
Already out, Japan's service sector improved marginally in September due to the easing rate of declines across the board, but remained in contraction levels, data from IHS Markit revealed.
The au Jibun Bank services purchasing managers' index rose to 46.5 in September from 45.0 in August. A reading below the 50.0 mark shows a decline.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY105.60 Monday morning versus JPY105.34 late Friday.
In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 1.2%. Financial markets in China are closed to commemorate 'Golden Week', though the market in Hong Kong re-opened on Monday after the National Day holiday, with the Hang Seng up 1.4% in late trade.
Gold was quoted at USD1,888.70 an ounce early Monday, lower than USD1,906.50 on Friday. Brent oil was trading at USD39.83 a barrel, up from USD39.48 late Friday.
In London, Weir shares gained 18%, pushing the stock to the top of the FTSE 250. The engineering firm, headquartered in Glasgow, has agreed to sell its Oil & Gas division to Caterpillar for an enterprise value of USD405 million.
The proceeds will be used to reduce the firm's leverage and the deal is expected to complete by the end of 2020.
"Alongside the previous sale of the Flow Control division and the acquisition of ESCO, it is a major milestone in transforming the group into a focused, premium mining technology business," said Chief Executive Officer Jon Stanton.
Cineworld, meanwhile, collapsed 46% after confirming that it will be suspending operations in the US and UK due to an "increasingly challenging theatrical landscape".
The closures involve all its 536 Regal theatres in the US and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK. They will be shut from Thursday this week.
These closures will impact around 45,000 employees, Cineworld said. Chief Executive Mooky Greidinger said this was not a decision taken lightly.
"Cineworld will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any future plans to resume operations in these markets at the appropriate time, when key markets have more concrete guidance on their reopening status and, in turn, studios are able to bring their pipeline of major releases back to the big screen," said Greidinger.
The decision comes after the release of the latest James Bond film was pushed back again.
Daniel Craig's final outing as spy James Bond will not hit big screens until next April, it was announced on Friday. No Time To Die was originally scheduled for release in April 2020, but was first pushed back to November as a result of the pandemic.
Greencore shares fell 7.5% after seeing an improvement in fourth quarter revenue trends, but the convenience foods maker still guided towards a fall in full-year earnings.
Group proforma revenue in the fourth quarter, which ended September 25, was down 19% - though this marked an improvement on the 36% fall registered in the third quarter.
For the full-year, Greencore expects to post revenue of GBP1.27 billion and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of GBP85 million. For the year ended in 2019, revenue amounted to GBP1.45 billion and adjusted Ebitda GBP142.0 million.
"The fourth quarter of our financial year has seen an ongoing improvement in demand for our products...We are realistic but also confident in our plans for FY21, and remain excited by Greencore's longer term prospects," said Chief Executive Patrick Coveney.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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