London stocks surge despite Covid-19 threat

The London markets surged higher as a string of positive economic figures helped traders to overcome fears over a possible second wave of coronavirus.

Better-than-expected manufacturing PMIs across the globe drove sentiment higher after a subdued start to the trading session.

The FTSE 100 closed 135.09 points higher at 6,032.85p at the end of trading yesterday.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “Despite the ongoing threat of a second wave of coronavirus cases in mainland Europe, and the UK government’s various lockdown U-turns in the past few days, the region’s indices were positively giddy.”

The German Dax increased by 2.71%, while the French Cac moved 1.93% higher.

Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones followed Europe’s lead to nudge higher, albeit slightly less enthusiastically, amid strong demand for tech stocks.

The pound fell 0.2% versus the US dollar at 1.306 and was up 0.03% against the euro at 1.111.

The price of oil pushed higher yesterday as it was buoyed by broad positive sentiment, with global manufacturing sectors returning to growth.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil increased by 1.17% to 44.13 US dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Lloyds, up 1.58p at 27.87p, Smurfit Kappa, up 136p at 2,676p, Natwest, up, 5.05p at 111.05p, and Intertek, up 244p at 5,622p. The biggest fallers were HSBC, down 9.95p to 332.25p, BT Group, down 0.56p at 98.02p, IAG, down 0.9p ay 163.85p, and RollsRoyce, down 1.2p at 230.4p.