LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Stocks Surge As US-China Truce Lifts Sentiment

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended sharply higher on Monday with commodity stocks driving gains in the FTSE 100, as the US and China put their trade spat on the backburner for the next three months.The FTSE 100 index closed up 82.17 points, or 1.2%, at 7,062.41. The FTSE 250 ended up 83.02 points, or 0.5%, at 18,563.85, and the AIM All-Share closed up 8.10 points, or 0.9%, at 938.27.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 1.5% at 12,006.06, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.5% at 16,607.91, but the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.2% at 11,392.65."An upbeat start to December was more than evident in today's session following the weekend's trade war truce. Investors were quick to put risk back on the table jumping into equities whilst flows out of safe havens were on the increase. The FTSE jumped to a high of 7,145 in early trade as oil and mining stocks traced commodity prices higher," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.At a dinner meeting after the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina over the weekend, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce in the trade war between the world's two largest economies as they seek to reach a long-term trade deal.A White House statement said Trump agreed not to raise the tariffs on USD200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from 10% on January 1 as planned. In return, China agreed to purchase a "not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount" of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the US.The White House said the US and China will use the next 90 days to attempt to reach an agreement on issues such as forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, and non-tariff barriers. Should the two countries not be able to reach an agreement by the end of the time period, the 10% tariffs on Chinese goods will be raised to 25%."Some have suggested that it is premature to get too carried away and in some respects that is correct, but for the here and now, and in the absence of anything else it is still a positive outcome, and could drive some strong gains in the weeks ahead. In the time horizon of a short term investor the prospect of an escalation is faraway into the future and now well down the list of things to be worried about," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.On the London Stock Exchange, commodity stocks with strong exposure to China ended in the green with Antofagasta was 7.6%, Evraz, up 7.6%, Anglo American, up 7.0%, BHP, up 5.9%, Rio Tinto, up 4.0%, Glencore, up 3.6%.Brent oil was quoted at USD61.57 a barrel at the London equities close, up from USD58.57 late Friday, providing a boost to oil firms with BP ending and 2.4% and Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and 'B' shares up 2.3% and 3.0% respectively. Oil services firm John Wood Group closed up 6.3%.The North Sea benchmark hit a high of USD62.58 a barrel overnight as trade tensions eased and investors pinned hopes that crude exporters would agree to cut output at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries's upcoming policy meeting. The oil cartel's 175th meeting takes place in Vienna, Austria on Thursday, with analysts expecting an output cut by 500,000 barrels a day amid concerns of a supply glut and demand slowdown."Those over-eager types rushing to buy the gap up in crude prices have had their fingers burnt today, as the price retreats from its one-week high. Still, it hasn't yet been subjected to the full fury of selling pressure seen over the past two months, so there is some hope that this rally might last a bit longer. But the OPEC news is in the price; the cartel will have to come up with something else to avoid disappointing the market when it meets," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.In addition, Persian Gulf state of Qatar said it would pull out of OPEC in January and focus on its gas industry. The move comes amid political tensions between Qatar and other Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia.At the other end of the large cap index, GlaxoSmithKline ended as the worst performer, down 7.8% after the drugmaker announced it will pay USD5.10 billion for oncology-focused US pharma company Tesaro.The Tesaro acquisition, and its associated research and development and commercial investments, will have a mid to high single digit percentage impact on Glaxo's adjusted earnings per share for the first two years. It will become accretive to Glaxo's adjusted earnings per share by 2022.Glaxo's guidance remains unchanged for 2018 but following the acquisition it expects the adjusted earnings per share growth at constant exchange for the 2016 to 2020 period to be "at the bottom end" of the mid-to-high single digit percentage compound annual growth rate range."CEO Emma Walmsley continues her policy of boosting GSK's pipeline in that area. Investors don't appear to be too enthused with the idea pushing the shares to the bottom of the FTSE 100," said Hewson.In the FTSE 250, Dunelm Group ended as the best blue chip performer, up 14% after Peel Hunt upgraded the homewares retailer to Buy from Hold saying its "mojo" has returned following a period of underperformance and sees scope for special dividend payouts in the future. At the other end of the midcap index, Thomas Cook ended as the worst performer, down 21% with the travel agent continuing its freefall in the wake of its profit warning last Tuesday. Compounding its woes, Berenberg, last week, downgraded the stock to Sell deeming the shares "uninvestable". Since last Tuesday, the stock has halved in value. The pound was quoted at USD1.2740 at the London equities close, lower than USD1.2770 at the close Friday, amid Brexit uncertainty. In domestic political news, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has told Conservative MPs to "hold their nerve" and back her Brexit deal, as campaigners delivered a petition for another referendum to Downing Street.The UK prime minister insisted she would still have a job in two weeks' time as she faces a crunch Commons vote on her EU withdrawal agreement on Tuesday next week. May told ITV's 'This Morning': "At the end of the line it is, I think, about holding our nerve and getting this over the line so we can deliver on Brexit and people can have that better future."Asked if she would still have a job after the showdown vote, May said: "I will still have a job in two weeks' time."My job is making sure that we do what the public asked us to, we leave the EU but we do it in a way that is good for them."Pressed on whether she would resign if her Brexit deal was defeated next week, May said: "I'm focusing on, you know, getting that vote, and getting the vote over the line."In economic news, UK manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in two months in November, exceeding economists' expectations, survey data from IHS Markit showed on Monday.The CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 53.1 from October's 27-month low of 51.1. Economists had forecast a score of 51.7. A PMI reading above 50 suggests growth in the sector.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 1.0%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 1.9%. The euro was firm quoted at USD1.1355 at the European equities close, against USD1.1319 late Friday.In economic news from the continent, the eurozone's manufacturing growth slowed less-than-expected in November, amid marginal growth in output and weak business confidence, and was the lowest since August 2016, final data from IHS Markit showed. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 51.8 from 52 in October. The flash reading was 51.5. Germany's manufacturing PMI fell to a 31-month low of 51.8, which was higher than the flash reading of 51.6.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close in the wake of Trump and Xi's meeting over the weekend.The DJIA was up 1.2%, the S&P 500 index up 1.0% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.5%.Gold was quoted at USD1,234.05 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,1218.50 late Friday, amid weakness in the dollar. The dollar fell following the trade truce and also amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve's will likely ease up on its plans for multiple interest rate hikes next year. Chairman Jerome Powell said last week that interest rates are just below neutral, raising expectations that the US central bank will pause its interest rate hike agenda after December.Powell is scheduled to testify before a congressional Joint Economic Committee later this week.The UK corporate calendar on Tuesday has full year results from sandwich maker Greencore Group and specialty chemicals firm Victrex. There are also trading statements from plumbing and heating products supplier Ferguson and online trading company IG Group. The economic events calendar on Tuesday UK construction PMI at 0930 GMT and eurozone producer prices at 1000 GMT. In addition, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, alongside deputies Ben Broadbent, Jon Cunliffe and Sam Woods will appear before the UK Treasury select committee in response to the central bank's Brexit analysis at 0915 GMT.