Stock prices in London were in the green at midday on Monday, as budget fears were shaken off ahead of the US presidential election on Tuesday and the Bank of England interest rate decision on Thursday.
The FTSE 100 index was up 52.82 points, 0.7%, at 8,229.97. The FTSE 250 was up 78.24 points, 0.4%, at 20,557.98, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.01 points, flat, at 739.01.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.6% at 824.89, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 18,152.31, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.5% at 16433.02.
‘After a difficult few days, the FTSE 100 got off to a steady start on Monday as resources and China-linked stocks made progress,’ said AJ Bell’s Russ Mould.
‘Lawmakers in Beijing are sitting down this week to thrash out a big stimulus package to accelerate an economy which has been spluttering since the pandemic. Top of the agenda is addressing the issue of local government debt but also providing support to households...This fiscal package is essentially what the market has been waiting for, ever since China fired the starting gun on stimulus in September. As ever, the devil is likely to be in the detail.’
On the FTSE 250, Burberry gained 6.2%.
According to an article published on Sunday in the specialist luxury online publication Miss Tweed there is ‘growing industry chatter’ that Italian luxury goods firm Moncler is mulling a bid for Burberry - albeit one motivated by Burberry’s significant drop in value over the past year.
The report said that Bernard Arnault, the controlling shareholder of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton which has recently indirectly taken a stake in Moncler, supports the deal, which it said would likely involve a mix of cash and shares.
Chemring gained 0.8%.
The provider of technology, products and services to the aerospace, defence and security markets has won a 12-year contract with Diehl Defence for the supply of MCX energetic materials. The contract has an initial purchase order value of €231 million and covers five years beginning in late 2026.
Chemring also announced that its US subsidiary received a $106 million order to deliver ‘critical components’ for an undisclosed US missile programme.
On AIM, DP Poland was flat.
The Domino’s pizza operator in Poland and Croatia said total system sales in Poland in the three months that ended September 30 were 63.7zł million, or £12.3 million, rising 16% from 55.0zł million last year.
‘Since April 2024, we have experienced upward pressure on food costs, particularly dairy products’, DP Poland said. ‘Despite this, we have continued to grow orders and market share without sacrificing store level profitability.’ The company remains ‘confident’ in delivering full-year results in line with market expectations.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was marginally higher.
The pound was quoted at $1.2977 at midday on Monday in London, compared to $1.2949 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood at $1.0910, higher against $1.0847. Against the yen, the dollar was trading down at JP¥151.60 compared to JP¥152.03.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.
Brent oil was quoted higher, at $75.12 a barrel at midday on Monday from $73.64 late Friday.
‘News that oil producers’ cartel OPEC+ would delay hikes in output through December helped give oil prices a lift and, in turn, provided a tailwind to heavyweight oil stocks Shell and BP,’ AJ Bell’s Mould noted.
BP was 1.4% higher in London at midday, while Shell was up 1.2%.
Gold was quoted lower at $2,740.61 an ounce against $2,741.43.
Still to come on Monday’s economic calendar, there are factory orders and vehicle sales readings from the US.
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