London open: Stocks rise on vaccine optimism, China data
London stocks rose in early trade on Monday, with sentiment underpinned by vaccine optimism and solid Chinese data.
At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 6,356.19.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "The European markets awoke to another dose of vaccine positivity this Monday, temporarily inoculating them to the horrifying covid-19 numbers coming out of the US.
"Though it’s not much of an update on what was previously stated, the chief executive of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, has claimed that transmission of covid-19 will be reduced by ‘maybe 50%’ following the vaccine rollout, itself leading to a ‘dramatic reduction of the pandemic spread’.
"Those comments were followed by news this Monday that 6,000 British volunteers are participating in the phase 3 trials of the vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen.
"Investors are also waiting on progress reports from Moderna and AstraZeneca, the latter of whom is partnered with Oxford on the university’s promising preparation.
"Though the vaccine headlines were the market’s main shot in the arm, a better than forecast Q3 GDP reading out of Japan - at 5.0% against the 4.4% expected and -7.9% seen in Q2 - helped sweeten early trading, as did a largely positive data dump out of China (though retail sales did miss estimates)."
Figures released earlier showed Chinese industrial production beat expectations in October while retail sales accelerated as the world's second-biggest economy continued to recover from the slump caused by Covid-19.
Factory output increased 6.9% from a year earlier, the National Statistics Bureau said. The rise was in line with September's and outpaced the 6.5% increase forecast by analysts in a Reuters survey.
Growth was supported by a 7.6% increase in exports as overseas markets have opened up after initial Covid-19 lockdowns. With employment prospects improving domestic consumers are also starting to spend more.
Retail sales rose 4.3% from a year earlier in October. The increase was less than the 4.9% expected by analysts but was the fastest growth in 2020. Car sales rose 12.5% based on increased demand for electric vehicles. Domestic tourism increased over the Golden Week holiday.
The data followed the announcement that China and 14 other Asia-Pacific countries had formed the world's largest trading bloc after eight years of talks. The multilateral pact covers almost a third of the world economy and is seen as enhancing China's influence in the region.
In equity markets, miners were boosted by the encouraging Chinese data, with Glencore, Antofagasta, Anglo American and BHP all higher.
British Airways owner IAG and engine maker Rolls-Royce were the top performers on the FTSE 100 amid optimism over a Covid-19 vaccine.
Asia-focused Standard Chartered was up following news of the RCEP trade deal.
Vodafone gained after its half-year results, while IT infrastructure and services provider Softcat rallied after it reported year-on-year growth in revenue, gross profit and operating profit.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,356.19 0.63%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,422.96 0.79%
techMARK (TASX) 3,967.70 0.70%
FTSE 100 - Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 153.60p 6.22%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 97.82p 4.40%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 435.00p 4.34%
Glencore (GLEN) 196.18p 3.50%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 123.60p 3.41%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,549.50p 3.09%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,158.00p 2.84%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,860.00p 2.84%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 152.10p 2.36%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,568.00p 2.28%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,400.00p -1.64%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,246.00p -1.62%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,888.00p -1.32%
Halma (HLMA) 2,402.00p -1.23%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 535.80p -1.22%
Ferguson (FERG) 7,896.00p -1.20%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,769.00p -1.11%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,031.00p -1.01%
National Grid (NG.) 944.00p -1.01%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 8,310.00p -1.00%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 140.15p 6.46%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 46.52p 6.11%
Softcat (SCT) 1,178.00p 5.46%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 252.00p 5.26%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 259.00p 4.86%
Carnival (CCL) 1,132.00p 4.72%
easyJet (EZJ) 766.60p 4.10%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 406.50p 4.10%
Ascential (ASCL) 358.80p 4.00%
Scottish Inv Trust (SCIN) 760.00p 3.97%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Calisen (CLSN) 176.00p -1.29%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 306.60p -1.29%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 349.00p -1.13%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 279.00p -1.06%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 210.40p -1.03%
IWG (IWG) 333.20p -1.01%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 9,750.00p -0.96%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 918.00p -0.86%
Greggs (GRG) 1,667.00p -0.83%
Bellway (BWY) 2,934.00p -0.81%