(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was flat early on Wednesday, recovering from a soft open, but European peers were lower, as the knife-edge US presidential race took another dramatic turn when incumbent Donald Trump declared victory and threatened going to the Supreme Court.
In London, the FTSE 100 index was down just 0.18 of a point at 5,786.59. The blue-chip index had fallen by 1.0% to a low of 5,731.07 just after the open.
The FTSE 250 rose 65.07 points, or 0.4%, at 17,556.77. The AIM All-Share was up 4.06 points, 0.4%, at 963.44.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 575.34. The Cboe 250 was up 0.4% at 14,802.47. The Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 9,509.49.
The CAC 40 stock index in Paris lost 1.0% in early trade on Wednesday, and Frankfurt's DAX 30 was down 1.6%.
"We did win this election," Trump said in an extraordinary speech from the ceremonial East Room of the White House. "This is a fraud on the American public."
The Republican, who according to initial results is in a neck-and-neck race with Democrat Joe Biden with not all states yet called for either side, said he would go to court and "we want all voting to stop".
He appeared to mean stopping the counting of mail-in ballots which can be legally accepted by state election boards after Tuesday's election, provided they were sent in time.
The dollar was higher across the board.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2917 on Wednesday morning, down from USD1.3070 at the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro slipped to USD1.1665, from USD1.1729 late Tuesday. Versus the yen, the dollar fetched JPY105.04, up from JPY104.50 at the London market close on Tuesday.
"The US election has become a mess, and President Trump has made it clear that he is going to go to the Supreme Court. Basically, we are seeing a nightmare situation come true because now we are talking about legal battles. This uncertainty is going to keep traders on edge, especially after Trump has used the word 'fraud'," commented Avatrade analyst Naeem Aslam.
Analysts at Danske Bank noted the result of election is "too close to call this morning".
"The results in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania will be decisive and Biden probably just needs to win two of them to claim the victory."
A candidate needs 270 electoral votes in the Electoral College system to win the White House. Press in the US declared Arizona in Biden's favour, which would push the democrat candidate up to 235 electoral college votes, compared to Trump's 213.
Back in London, Irish paper and packaging firm Smurfit Kappa said its third-quarter performance topped expectations and mid-cap retailer Marks & Spencer Group swung to a loss in a lockdown hit first-half.
Smurfit Kappa said revenue for the nine months to September 30 came in at EUR6.31 billion, down 7.9% from the EUR6.85 billion it reported a year ago. Smurfit shares were 2.4% higher.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 11% lower at EUR1.13 billion.
"Third-quarter performance was ahead of our expectations," Smurfit said.
Retailer Marks & Spencer's shares added 0.6%. Revenue in the six months ended September 26 dropped 16% year-on-year to GBP4.09 billion, and the high street store chain swung to a pretax loss of GBP87.6 million from a GBP158.8 million profit.
However, the company said the 16% revenue drop outperformed its "Covid-19 planning scenario by 22.8%".
"The Food business has performed strongly despite substantial Covid headwinds during the six-month period achieving 2.7% LFL growth or 6.6% when excluding hospitality, which was largely closed during lockdown," M&S said.
Its more beleaguered Clothing & Home arm "was heavily impacted by the full Covid lockdown in the first quarter, ongoing social distancing and the priority to clear stock". Revenue there dropped 41%.
"Despite the company's historic loss, there are some encouraging signs in Marks & Spencer's update. The initial success of the Ocado partnership is highly promising and appears to be unlocking the food business's previously untapped online potential," said Brewin Dolphin Senior Investment Manager John Moore.
Ocado shares were 1.4% higher.
Elsewhere in London, Stobart Group was down 0.3% after it posted a widened interim loss. The logistics, energy and aviation firm was hit by a reduction in passenger travel at Southend Airport.
Revenue in the six months ended August dropped 29% to GBP53.2 million from GBP74.8 million, and Stobart's pretax loss ballooned to GBP77.4 million from GBP15.5 million.
"Covid-19 has created unprecedented challenges for the group," conceded Chief Executive Warwick Brady.
"Whilst passenger travel has been severely disrupted by lockdowns and evolving quarantine arrangements, London Southend Airport has benefited from uninterrupted income from its global logistics operation. At Stobart Energy, we are seeing a more consistent demand profile and have taken appropriate actions to ensure certainty of supply of waste wood for customers over the winter period to fulfil our valuable long-term supply contracts."
The company affirmed that it "remains focused on exiting Stobart Air", adding that the trading outlook at the unit "has deteriorated significantly" due to Covid-19.
"The group is seeking to exit that business in early course. To that end, it is engaging actively with parties interested in acquiring its stake and with Aer Lingus to enter a new commercial arrangement beyond December 2022 as part of this process," Stobart added.
Elsewhere on the main market, construction firm Morgan Sindall rose 4.5%. The company said annual pretax profit will top its GBP50 million to GBP60 million guidance range.
Morgan Sindall declared a 21.0 pence per share interim payout, in line with 2019's interim dividend.
Commenting on the upcoming lockdown in England, the company said it does not expect any material disruption.
In China, the Shanghai Composite index closed 0.2% higher but the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 0.2%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan ended the day 1.7% higher. Japan was playing catch up after financial markets reopened following the Culture Day holiday on Tuesday.
In the international economic calendar on Wednesday, there are a slew of services PMI readings due, with Germany, the eurozone, and the UK at 0855 GMT, 0900 GMT and 0930 GMT, respectively. In the afternoon, the US services PMI will be released at 1445 GMT.
A eurozone producer price index print is due at 1000 GMT, followed by the US ADP employment figures at 1315 GMT. This is an important precursor to the nonfarm payrolls data due Friday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,891.62 an ounce early on Wednesday, down from USD1,906.10 late Tuesday.
A barrel of Brent oil fetched USD39.86 early on Wednesday, up from USD39.64.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com;
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