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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened sharply higher on Monday amid optimism inspired by the UK's vaccination effort and a strong close in Tokyo.
Markets in China were closed for Lunar New Year, while Wall Street also will be closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday in the US.
London's blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 62.53 points, or 1.0%, at 6,652.32. The FTSE 250 index was up 148.68 points, or 0.7%, at 21,186.15, and the AIM All-Share index was flat at 1,220.03.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 1.0% at 660.81 points. The Cboe 250 was up 0.4% at 18,573.02, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 12681.71.
The CAC 40 index in Paris was up 0.6% and Frankfurt's DAX 30 was up 0.5%.
"Sentiment remains positive towards risk thanks to the ongoing Covid vaccine rollout and slowing virus outbreaks, boosting expectations about a sharp global recovery later this year - especially as bets are also rising for more US stimulus," said ThinkMarkets analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
In the FTSE 100, oil majors BP, Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and 'B' shares were up 0.9%, 2.2% and 2.4% respectively, tracking spot oil prices higher.
Brent oil was quoted at USD63.37 a barrel Monday morning, sharply up from USD61.53 late Friday, trading at fresh 13-month highs.
"Oil prices climbed in Asia as Texas oil operators warned of 'freeze-ins' due to arctic vortex type conditions that could reduce Permian Basin oil flow to a trickle," said Axi's Stephen Innes.
Rolls-Royce was up 2.4%. The jet engine maker confirmed it has hired Panos Kakoullis, a former partner at accountancy firm Deloitte, as its next chief financial officer, replacing Stephen Daintith who is leaving to work for online grocer Ocado Group.
Separately, fellow FTSE 100-listed Ocado confirmed that Daintith - whose departure from Rolls was announced in August having been appointed just under four years before - will start as CFO on March 22. Ocado shares were up 0.7%.
Daintith will leave Rolls-Royce on March 19 after the company posts its annual results, with Kakoullis to join the company on May 3. Deputy CFO Ben Fidler has been named interim CFO for the transition period.
In the FTSE 250, Mitchells & Butlers shares were up 3.7% at 340.50 pence. The pub and restaurant operator confirmed plans for an equity raise to get it through the latest UK lockdown, while the founder of peer JD Wetherspoon called for pubs to be allowed to open at the same time as non-essential shops.
Mitchells & Butlers said it intends to raise GBP350 million by means of an fully underwritten, pre-emptive open offer. The FTSE 250 company had said back at the start of January that it was exploring an equity raise, as none of its pubs have been open since the start of the third national lockdown in England on December 30.
Meanwhile, Wetherspoon Chair Tim Martin warned that the pub industry is "on its knees" and needs to reopen to save jobs. He said pubs make a massive contribution to the economy, with Wetherspoon alone paying about GBP10 of tax for every pound of profit it makes.
Martin said Wetherspoon has registered more than 50 million customer visits to its pubs, using the Test & Trace system, without a single outbreak of Covid-19, as defined by the health authorities. He called on the UK government to allow pubs to reopen at the same time as non-essential shops.
Wetherspoon shares were up 4.1%.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will this week begin considering how restrictions in England may be eased ahead of a statement on February 22 setting out his "road-map" out of lockdown after more than 15 million people across the UK received their first dose of a vaccine.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 1.9%, closing above the 30,000 mark for the first time since 1990. Markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
The Japanese economy booked double-digit growth in the last quarter of 2020 for the second quarter in a row, continuing to recover strongly following a historic recession.
The economy grew at an annualized rate of 13% in the October-to-December period, beating the median forecast of 9.4% growth by analysts surveyed by the Nikkei Business Daily, which comes after an annualized 23% expansion in the third quarter.
Financial markets in the US are closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3906 Monday morning, up sharply from USD1.3847 at the London equities close Friday, trading around its highest levels since April 2018, on improved prospects for a return to normality in the UK.
The euro was priced at USD1.2144, higher from USD1.2120. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY105.15, up from JPY104.95.
Gold was trading at USD1,818.60 an ounce, down from USD1,828.25.
The economic events calendar on Monday has eurozone industrial production figures at 1000 GMT.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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