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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened sharply higher on Monday following the change in power in the US over the weekend, while Taylor Wimpey's upbeat assessment of UK housing market conditions gave the sector a lift.
Global equity markets were given a boost as US President-Elect Joe Biden took the first steps Sunday towards moving into the White House in 73 days, while Donald Trump again refused to admit defeat and tried to sow doubt about the election results.
With congratulations pouring in from world leaders and supporters nursing hangovers after a night of celebrations, Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris announced they would receive a joint briefing on Monday in Wilmington, Delaware from their transition Covid-19 advisory team.
Trump, who has no public events scheduled for Monday, plans to file a string of lawsuits in the coming week, according to his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who said he had "a lot of evidence" of fraud.
China declined Monday to congratulate Joe Biden as the winner of the US presidential election, saying the outcome of the vote was still to be determined. China – among a handful of major countries including Russia and Mexico that has not congratulated the president-elect – said it had "noticed that Mr Biden declared he is the winner of the election". After declining to acknowledge Biden's victory despite repeated questions from reporters, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said: "We hope the new US government can meet China halfway."
In London, the FTSE 100 index was up 91.59 points, or 1.6%, at 6,001.61. The FTSE 250 was up 277.94 points, or 1.6%, at 18,195.77. The AIM All-Share was up 1.0% at 992.57.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.6% at 596.08. The Cboe 250 up 1.2% at 15,308.22. The Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 9,787.86.
The CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.5% and Frankfurt's DAX 30 was up 1.7%.
"The expectation is that Biden's policies will be less confrontational than Trump's which, combined with a spilt Congress meaning less regulatory reform whilst making tax hikes unlikely - a Joe Biden win is looking like a win for the markets. A lot of this was priced in in last week's impressive rally; however the risk-on trade is spilling over into this week," commented City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.
In the FTSE 100, Taylor Wimpey was the standout performer, up 11% after the housebuilder said it is on track to deliver full-year results towards the top end of expectations, supported by positive conditions in the UK housing market.
The housebuilder noted that customers have benefited from the short-term extension to the current phase of the UK government's Help to Buy scheme and the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday.
Its total order book, excluding joint ventures, represents 11,530 homes as at the start of November. The order book stands at GBP3.0 billion, up 11% on GBP2.7 billion a year ago.
The High Wycombe-based firm said it is on track to deliver full-year results towards the upper end of market expectations. For 2020, the current company compiled consensus expectation is for operating profit to come in a range between GBP242 million to GBP292 million.
Addressing England's new lockdown, Taylor Wimpey said the UK government has confirmed the housing market should remain open for business.
Turning to shareholder returns, Taylor Wimpey reiterated that it expects to recommence ordinary dividend payments in 2021, starting with the payment of a 2020 final dividend. It will review a special dividend in 2021 for payment in 2022.
Large-cap peers Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group were up 5.8%, 4.7% and 3.7% respectively in a positive read-across. The FTSE 350 Household Goods sector index was up 2.9%.
JD Sports was up 4.6% after JPMorgan started coverage on the sportswear retailer with an Overweight rating.
Anglo American was up 4.0% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the miner to Overweight from Equal Weight.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3180 early Monday, up from USD1.3172 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced a USD1.1890, flat from USD1.1887. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY103.42, down from JPY103.71.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 2.1% on Monday. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 1.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong finished up 1.2%. The Japanese benchmark index ended at its highest level since 1991.
China's imports grew 4.7% and exports rose by 11% year-on-year as its economy continued to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to October customs data released on Saturday. As a result, its October trade surplus widened to USD58.44 billion from September's USD37.00 billion.
China has largely managed to control the virus after a disastrous start to the year that saw Beijing lock down tens of millions of people and the economy contract 6.8% in the first quarter. The new figures from China's General Administration are the latest sign of China's economic recovery as consumption returns to normal levels.
Brent oil was trading at USD40.36 a barrel Monday morning, up from USD39.66 on Friday evening. Gold was quoted at USD1,958.72 an ounce, higher than USD1,952.40.
"Oil is trading a bit higher this morning in line with broader risk assets and a slightly weaker dollar as Joe Biden was declared the presidents while on the data front bot US Jobs number and China's resilient exports number released over the weekend paint a better picture for the global growth outlook than expected," said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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