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- FTSE 100 index gains 19 points
- Tech rally propels Wall Street
5pm: No US presidental news yet but markets don’t mind
London’s leading index picked up 19 points, 0.3%, to end Thursday at 5,902.6. The FTSE 250 gained 176 points, 1%, to 17,972.6.
“It has been another bullish day for European stocks even though the political picture still isn’t very clear in the US,” CMC Markets UK David Madden wrote. “A Biden win seems like the most probable outcome, but despite the absence of clarity, equity traders are happy to snap up stocks. Political uncertainty and a rally in equities do not normally go together but some people are taking the view that Mr. Biden might not be able to do a whole lot should he trump the Donald in the race to the White House, as the Senate will probably remain under Republican control.”
Tate & Lyle plc (LON:TATE) was amonog the leaders, gaining 3% to GBP652 after the food group beat expectations with first-half pre-tax profit of GBP157 million.
Across the pond, as traders await final election results, the Dow improved 505 points, 1.8%, to 28,353.4. The Nasdaq Composite made big gains on the back of tech stocks, gaining 2.3% to 11,850.7, and the S&P 500 was up 67 points, 2%, to 3,510.6.
“Tech stocks are rallying again as it looks like a victory for Joe Biden,” Madden wrote. “The Democrat has plans to curb the power of technology titans, but even if he does win, he will probably struggle to pursue that policy as the Senate will probably be controlled by the other side. At some point there will probably be a coronavirus relief package, but given how things are shaping up in terms of the voting, it will probably be much smaller than what the Democrats were calling for before the election.”
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) all gained more than 2%.
3.35pm: The Footsie continues on its upward path
Another day, another gain for the Footsie, which has been on a rising trend all week.
Entering the last hour of trading, the FTSE 100 was up 45 points (0.8%) at 5,928.
Supermarket giant J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY), down 4.3% at 199.9p, went against the trend after its interim results disappointed.
“Today’s results don’t contain much in the way of surprises. Store closures and integrations at Argos and Sainsbury’s have been on the cards since the group announced its five-year plan over a year ago. No one will welcome the thousands of jobs lost in the process, but this is also symptomatic of wider problems in the retail sector, which has bled close to 150,000 jobs in 2020 alone,” said David Kimberley, an analyst at Freetrade.
2.48pm: Wall Street kicks off on the front foot
The main Wall Street indices started Thursday’s session on a positive footing, continuing the market’s bullish run as the election outcome remained in doubt.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.57% at 28,285, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.68% to 3,502 and the Nasdaq rose 1.69% at 11,786.
Aside from the electoral uncertainty, traders have also shrugged off a worse than expected set of jobless claims figures, which indicate that the US unemployment rate still remains highly elevated as the coronavirus rips through the country and the economy.
In terms of the election results, Nevada and Georgia seem set to declare the results of their counts today as the remaining ballots are counted. Biden holds a thin lead in Nevada while Trump has a very slight edge in Georgia, however Biden will secure victory if he manages to win either state.
Back in London, the FTSE 100 had managed to add a few points and was up 28 points at 5,910 at 2.45pm.
2.15pm: US initial jobless claims ease
Initial jobless claims in the US eased to 751,000 last week, from 758,000 the week before.
Economists had expected a lowerr figure of around 735,000.
“The trend in initial claims probably is now about flat – and still well above the 665K peak seen after the crash of 2008 – but we fear a renewed increase as the surge in Covid cases and hospitalisations reduces activity in the consumer services sector,” said Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
“The goods economy – manufacturing, wholesaling, transportation and retailing – is holding up well, but leisure, recreation, entertainment and hospitality will all suffer as fear of the virus keeps more people at home. Continuing claims continue to fall, even allowing for the shift of some claimants off regular state programs and onto extended benefits and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which are not included in the headline number,” he added.
In London, the FTSE 100 has spent much of the afternoon coasting and was up 21 points (0.4%) at 5,905.
12.35pm: US indices to open sharply higher
It’s all systems go for US equities as traders wait for further electoral revelations.
Spread betting quotes indicate the Dow Jones will open 367 points higher at 28,215; the S&P 500 is tipped to jump 58 points to 3,501 and the NASDAQ Composite is on course to rise 486 points to 12,077.
“Whatever the ultimate outcome of the race for the White House, it is clear the Democrats have not performed as well as the polls predicted. The ‘triple blue’ wave which they hoped would deliver them all three branches of the US government is unlikely. Now gridlock within the US government is expected to continue as market participants are forced to unwind their positions based on the ‘triple blue’ scenario,” said Naoya Oshikubo, the senior economist at SuMi TRUST.
“Cyclical stocks that had been bought with hopes for economic recovery and high-interest rates have fallen back, while large scale high-tech stocks have been repurchased. Without the expected blue wave the Democrats will have less power to tighten regulations on large corporations, and this has helped support high-tech and healthcare stocks in particular,” he noted.
On the subject of tech stocks, silicon chip giant Qualcomm has delivered a “barnstorming set of fourth-quarter results”, according to AJ Bell’s investment director, Russ Mould.
“San Diego-headquartered Qualcomm, which designs and licenses chip designs as well as manufacturing the physical products, cited 5G mobile telephony as a key driver of sales in the quarter; however, management is also looking forward to further strength in areas such as automotive and Internet of Things connectivity in its new fiscal year and beyond,” Mould noted.
On the macroeconomic data front, the first estimates of US productivity and unit labour costs for the third quarter are scheduled for today while what with it being a Thursday, so are the weekly jobless claims; these are expected to decline to 735,000 from 751,000, while continuing claims are tipped to fall to 7.2mln.
The projected gains for US indices are making the FTSE 100’s 13 points (0.2%) gain at 5,896 look a bit insipid.
The index’s fortunes have not been helped by one of Britain’s diminishing band of tech titans, Aveva Group PLC (LON:AVV), which is down 9.2% at 4,010p after underwhelming interims.
READ AVEVA slides as earnings fall by over a third in first half
“Industrial software company Aveva Group has seen its share price slide after the company missed expectations on first half revenues, which fell 15.1% from last year to GBP332.6mln. This was largely down to lower than expected client spend in the first half, though on the plus side recurring revenue saw a modest improvement across three of four of its business units,” said CMC’s Michael Hewson.
11.55am: Private new car registrations rise in October
Private new car registrations rose 0.4% year-over-year in October, after declining by 1.1% in September.
Total registrations, including fleet and business sales, fell 1.6%.
“Pent-up demand that developed during the first lockdown and aversion to using public transport has lifted car registrations back to 2019 levels temporarily, but the medium-term outlook remains bleak for dealers,” said Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
“Admittedly, year-to-date registrations still are down a huge 27% on 2019’s figure and some manufacturers have had long-lasting supply-chain issues, so registrations likely will remain strong in Q4. Forward-looking indicators of demand, however, show that demand is starting to fade,” Tombs revealed.
“The number of people searching online for one of the top five bestselling cars was down 6% year-over-year in October, according to Google Trends data. In addition, the consumer confidence component of the E.C.’s Economic Sentiment survey dropped to -20 in October, from -18 in September; it now points on past form to car sales eventually stabilising 10-to-15% below 2019’s average. The availability of unsecured credit also has declined this year and lenders plan to tighten access further in Q4, according to the BoE’s Credit Conditions survey. Accordingly, it’s highly likely that car registrations will fall back in the first half of next year,” Tombs predicted.
Coincidentally, Auto Trader Group PLC (LON:AUTO) issued its half-year results today, which included the announcement that its advertising packages would be free for December for all retailer customers in the UK.
The shares were off 2.2% at 581.6p after the figures.
“The decision to make its advertising packages free during lockdown means Auto Trader’s revenue has stalled badly. The new round of restrictions means history is going to repeat itself, as it plans to scrap fees again in December. In reality, though, Auto Trader remains a great business,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Its capital-light model means costs are minimal – the sharp revenue declines have hurt operating margins, but these are still a highly respectable 58%. Running a website is a lot less cash-intensive than a bricks and mortar business.
“However, further lockdowns and a jittery economic outlook will hurt some of Auto’s main customers, mostly car dealerships, as now is not generally the time people rush out to buy a new car. This will dent, but by no means write-off, Auto Trader’s revenues though. Trends have shown there’s strong consumer demand ready to switch back on when things get back to normal. In the meantime, the group’s comfortable liquidity position and very flexible cost base means it has the tools to ride out the bumpy economic cycle,” she concluded.
The FTSE 100 was up 27 points (0.5%) at 5,910.
11.00am: Construction activity a bright spot in October
The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Total Activity Index retreated to 53.1, from 56.8 in September.
The index has registered above the 50.0 no-change mark in each month since June.
House building was by far the best-performing area of construction activity in October, IHS Markit said, as the speed of recovery eased only slightly from September.
Survey respondents often commented on pent up demand and a boost from improving housing market conditions in recent months.
Duncan Brock, the group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), said supply chain challenges had an impact on productivity in October, taking some of the steam out of the revival.
“Higher levels of purchasing to meet the demands of the biggest rise in new orders since December 2015, were met with roadblocks of material shortages and the highest cost inflation since April 2019. Supplier delivery times acted as a drag on completion as builders rushed to finish work in hand and meet new build requests,” Brock said.
“The largest blot on the landscape was the number of redundancies and job shedding reported by construction firms, though builders remained relatively cheerful about the next 12 months. The strength of the pipeline of new work especially from a robust housing market means the sector is moving in the right direction and hopeful of getting through the winter unscathed,” he added.
Tim Moore, the economics director at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said another sharp rise in house building helped to keep the construction recovery on track.
“Commercial work also contributed to growth in the construction sector, while civil engineering remained the main area of concern as activity in this category dropped for the third month running.
“New orders improved at the sharpest rate for nearly five years in October, suggesting a positive near-term outlook for construction activity; however, survey respondents commented on renewed economic uncertainty and concerns about the sustainability of the recovery as pent up demand begins to wane,” Moore said.
The FTSE 100 was up 31 points (0.5%) at 5,915.
9.30am: Bank of England finds a bit more ammo than expected
After a brightish start, the Footsie is meandering back towards last night’s closing level.
London’s benchmark of blue-chip shares was up 5 points (0.1%) at 5,888 after the Bank of England announced a further GBP150bn of quantitative easing (QE), which was GBP50bn more than the market had been expecting.
The GBP150bn in additional gilt purchases will begin in January once the existing programme of GBP100bn expires and will finish at around the end of 2021.
“The pace of purchases could remain at around its current level initially, with flexibility to slow the pace of purchases later. Should market functioning worsen materially again, however, the Bank of England stood ready to increase the pace of purchases to ensure the effective transmission of monetary policy,” the minutes to the November meeting of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee revealed.
“What about negative rates?” asks Berenberg’s senior economist, Kallum Pickering, rhetorically.
“Neither the minutes nor the Monetary Policy Report provide any update on the BoE’s assessment of the suitability of negative rates even though the bank has announced such policy option is under review. This could be a sign that the BoE is trying to reduce the growing speculation that such a move could be imminent. In the Monetary Policy Report the BoE notes that the current market-implied path for the bank rate, which falls below zero in 2021, ‘suggests that market participants attach some weight to the possibility of a negative Bank Rate’,” Pickering said.
“While the BoE has made clear that it wants to make negative rates operational within its toolkit, we continue to judge that such a move is far off and would not be appropriate for the UK under prevailing conditions,” he added.
As expected, the Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged for November,
It also significantly downgraded its projections for the UK economy for 2020 and 2021.
The Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to maintain #BankRate at 0.1% and to inject an additional GBP150bn into the economy through quantitative easing. pic.twitter.com/as5jKjo0a0
— Bank of England (@bankofengland) November 5, 2020
“In the November quarterly report, the Bank of England provided significantly downgraded indicative projections for the UK economy for 2020 and 2021. These new forecasts saw GDP contracting 11% in 2020 then growing 7.25% in 2021, 6.25% in 2022 and 1.75% in 2023. In its August quarterly report, the indicative projections saw GDP contracting 9.5% in 2020 then growing 9% in 2021 and 3.5% in 2022,” reported Howard Archer, the chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club.
“This means that the Bank of England has put back its anticipated timing of when the economy will regain its level of the fourth quarter of 2019, from the end of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022.
“The unemployment rate is now seen reaching 6.25% in the fourth quarter of 2020, rising to a peak around 7.75% in the second quarter of 2021 before falling back to 6.75% in the fourth quarter of 2021, 5% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 4.25% in the fourth quarter of 2023. In August, the forecasts had been 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020, falling back to 6% in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 4.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“Consumer price inflation is seen as remaining around 0.5% over the winter. Headline inflation is then projected to rise in the spring as the VAT cut for the hospitality sector comes to an end and the large fall in energy prices from earlier in 2020 drops out of the annual comparison. Inflation is seen averaging 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2020, 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021, 2.0% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“These forecasts are based on prevailing market interest rate expectations which saw interest rates becoming modestly negative in 2021,” Archer said.
8.45am: Gains continues for Footsie
With Joe Biden inching towards the US presidency, the FTSE 100 made a slow, but positive start to proceedings on Thursday.
London’s blue-chip benchmark opened 20 points to the good at 5,902.56.
Legal challenges could make this a long, drawn-out post-election fight for the White House so London traders were largely keeping their powder dry.
Here at home, the Bank of England made its market intervention in a bid to boost the locked down UK economy with a GBP150bn bond-buying exercise.
In its missive to the markets, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said it saw “signs that consumer spending has softened across a range of high-frequency indicators, while investment intentions have remained weak”.
Laith Khalaf, analyst at AJ Bell, added: “This may not be the end of the Bank’s pandemic interventions, particularly if another lockdown becomes necessary further down the line.
“The Bank is beginning to run out of dry powder as it now holds almost half the gilt market, and interest rates are already close to zero. That means if the central bank wants to boost the economy further, it may resort to even more extraordinary measures than we have today.
“Negative interest rates are certainly on the table. The Bank is seriously weighing this up and has written to bank chiefs to see if they can handle it.”
On the market, top of the risers’ list with a 3.5% gain was Homeserve (LON:HSV), the Footsie boiler maintenance group.
One investment bank said Wednesday it had seen a lot of activity in the shares, adding that it expected it to be another busy, high-volume session for the stock. Reports of a positive broker circular couldn’t be confirmed.
One note out there doing the round carried an upgrade from JP Morgan Cazenove, which has turned positive on the ticketing group Trainline (LON:TRN), up 4.8% following a trading update.
The news of a potential 3,500 job cuts at Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) drove the shares 3.5% lower in the wake of annual results from the grocer.
“Sainsbury is on a conveyor belt of change to adapt to the way its customers now want to shop,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“It’s planning to shut 420 large Argos stores and also will remove deli counters from its supermarkets, given lower demand from customers for these products.”
Proactive news headlines:
IQ-AI Limited (LON:IQAI) said the Montgomery Cancer Center in Alabama has bought its Imaging Biometrics subsidiary’s IB Clinic product. The software suite includes the IB Neuro and IB Delta T1 mapping algorithms, which IQ-AI said, “continue to gain acceptance in brain tumour imaging and assessment”. The latter offers an “objective and rapid visual assist” for neuroradiologists that helps identify subtle regions of contrast enhancement on routine MR images.
Feedback PLC (LON:FDBK) is fully funded to execute its growth strategy, the specialist medical imaging technology company said in its annual general meeting statement. The company had a positive cash balance of GBP4.4mln as at the end of September 2020, which it will use to scale up its core product, Bleepa, a medical imaging communications app. Much of the groundwork now complete, Feedback told investors, and the focus is to further grow Bleepa’s market base and create a strong platform for revenue growth. In a separate announcement, Feedback revealed that Bleepa has been selected as a WISH 2020 Innovation Booster at the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), which is taking place later this month in Doha, Qatar.
Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB) has reported increased revenues and wider margins in October from its cryptocurrency mining operations. In a monthly update, the AIM-listed firm reported revenues of GBP1.2mln, up from GBP1.1mln in September, while its average monthly mining margin rose to 40% from 37%. The company also reported that it had mined 126 Bitcoin or Bitcoin equivalent (BTC) in October compared to 127 in the prior month, taking the total amount of BTC mined in the year-to-date to 2,254.
Panther Metals PLC (LON:PALM) said reconnaissance work conducted at its Dotted Lake property in Ontario, Canada, has confirmed high-grade gold at surface. Panther submitted a total of seven samples from the under-explored Dotted Lake property for analysis at ALS Laboratories, taken from an area of stripped ground bordering the most northerly point on the Dotted Lake shoreline. This area was cleared in 2010 when four trenches were excavated to investigate gold in soil anomalies identified within small soil sampling grids conducted in 2008 and 2009. The 2010 channel sampling in historical trench Tr-10-4 returned two mineralised intervals – 1.14 grams per tonne (g/t) Au (gold) over 1.00 metre (m) and 9.02 g/t Au & 859 ppm [parts per million Zn (zinc) over 0.40 m with a further 2010 prospecting sample returning Au 16.95 g/t Au & 7.7 g/t Ag from nearby.
Angling Direct PLC (LON:ANG) said its stores are now closed as per the UK government’s new coronavirus lockdown restrictions but will remain trading through a call-and-collect service. Angling Direct added that its web store remains fully operational for both the UK and European sales, and its distribution centre is geared to fulfil increased demand through this channel, with the upcoming Black Friday and Christmas period. The largest specialist fishing tackle and equipment retailer in the UK continues to reel in the customers with the momentum achieved in the first half of its financial year (i.e. six months to end-July) being sustained and sales remaining robust through October.
Frontier IP Group PLC (LON:FIPP) has reported a sharp rise in the value of its investment portfolio as well as a profit surge following what it said was “strong commercial and technical progress” in its full year. For the year ended June 30, 2020, the AIM-listed firm reported a 47% increase in the fair value of its portfolio to GBP19.4mln, while its net asset value per share increased to 51p from 41.4p. Meanwhile, the company’s pre-tax profit surged 78% to GBP4.18mln while revenues and other operating income jumped 49% to GBP6.4mln reflecting a net unrealised profit on investment revaluations of GBP5.97mln.
Open Orphan PLC (LON:ORPH) said its hVIVO arm has won a GBP2.5mln contract to carry out an influenza human challenge study for an unnamed US biotechnology company. The latest deal builds on significant new business wins in the areas of respiratory syncytial virus and coronavirus (COVID-19). The challenge study will take place at the company’s 24-bedroom quarantine clinic in east London in the second half of next year with completion due by the end of 2021.
Personal Group PLC (LON:PGH), a leading provider of employee services in the UK, has said it anticipates the payment of its fourth and final dividend in respect of its financial year ending Decembet 31, 2020, following publication of its audited full-year results in March 2021. The group said its board has taken a more prudent approach to the fourth dividend for 2020 which has historically been declared and paid during the fourth quarter. Given the recent UK government announcement of further national lockdown restrictions and ongoing uncertainty, it added, the final amount will now be determined and announced following the year-end.
Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON:JLP) said it has executed a number of copper cobalt tailings transactions that have nearly doubled its rights to copper tailings in Zambia. The AIM-listed firm said the transactions have secured the rights to an additional 115mln tonnes of copper and cobalt-containing surface tailings as part of its strategy to expand operations in the country, taking its total access to around 270mln tonnes of tailings. The deal, secured through Jubilee’s subsidiary Braemore Platinum Limited, provides the firm with the exclusive right to process the 115mln tonnes of tailings through the implementation of a copper and cobalt processing facility.
Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF) chief executive Julian Treger has described the company as encouraged by the operational performance across its mine royalty portfolio over the third quarter. Mines have continued to function without material disruption due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, he noted in a trading update. “The actions taken by the underlying operators suggests that we could see a stronger finish to the year across the portfolio at a time when certain commodity prices are showing signs of improvement,” Treger said.
The royalty company reported that a total of GBP6.4mln was generated from its portfolio in the quarter ended September 30, 2020, compared to GBP6.5mln in the second quarter.
FastForward Innovations Ltd (LON:FFWD) has highlighted an update from its investee company, EMMAC Life Sciences Group, in which the European cannabis firm noted growth in its key markets. In the update, EMMAC said the growth in its European markets coincided with rising demand for premium medical cannabis and wellness products. The company also said UK cannabis markets, in particular, were witnessing “significant momentum” with the firm “leading the way in enabling greater patient access in terms of product accessibility and cost for patients”. EMMAC also said that despite significant efforts by all parties involved, the negotiations regarding the proposed business combination between Andina Acquisition Corp and EMMAC have been mutually terminated as it was not possible to finalise negotiations to the satisfaction of both parties.
Deltic Energy PLC (LON:DELT) told investors that Royal Dutch Shell PLC, operator of Licence P2252 in the North Sea, has confirmed its commitment to the drilling of a well on the Pensacola prospect in 2021. Well planning including design work and rig scoping has already begun, the company added. It noted that Shell has been given a short extension for P2252, to the end of March, in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to allow analysis of seismic data ahead of a formal drill decision.
Zoetic International PLC (LON:ZOE) has announced revised terms for the sale of its 75% interest in the DT Ultravert to Path Investments PLC. Under the new terms, the buyer will issue 30mln Path shares to Zoetic rather than 15mln shares as agreed originally in May. Path will no longer additionally issue 15mln share warrants to Zoetic, and, a previously envisaged orderly market agreement will no longer apply to the shares issued by Path. Zoetic is no longer selling the Kansas nitrogen assets to Path, and, Path will no longer pay royalties on future revenues back to Zoetic.
Conroy Gold and Natural Resources PLC (LON:CGNR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Ireland and Finland, announced on Thursday that it has received a notice to exercise warrants over a total of 208,333 ordinary shares of EUR0.001 each at an exercise price of 16p each, for which funds of around GBP33,333 have been received by the company. The warrants were issued as part of the fundraising announced on February 18, 2020, and the proceeds from the exercise of the warrants will be used by the company for general working capital purposes.
Remote Monitored Systems PLC (LON:RMS) said it has received notification to exercise 4,000,000 warrants at an exercise price of 0.5p each. The consideration received by the company will be GBP20,000.
Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE), the advanced computer vision technology company that designs AI-powered operator monitoring systems to improve transport safety, has announced that it will hold its annual general meeting at its head office in Canberra, Australia at 5.00pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) on Monday November 30, 2020. The meeting will be held virtually from 80 Mildura Street, Fyshwick ACT 2609. Shareholders may choose to participate online. To view the live webcast online, shareholders will need to visit: https://seeingmachines.zoom.us/j/92458597003pwd=V0NjQzcxaVFYZFVDS2k4eklvdUZyQT09
6.50am: Positive opening predicted
The FTSE 100 is seen in positive territory ahead of Thursday’s open as America remains in a tense political limbo, with vote counting continuing in five key undeclared states after Tuesday’s US presidential election.
CFD and spreadbetting firm IG sees London’s blue-chip benchmark around 21 points higher, making the price 5,892 to 5,895.
It remains unclear who will be named as American president for the next four years though forecasters see the probabilities favouring Democrat challenger Joe Biden.
Perhaps significant in terms of policy status-quo, it appears that the Democrats will retain control of the House of Representatives and Republicans will retain the Senate which commentators suggest means Biden won’t easily be able to push through partisan manifesto pledges that would impact ‘big tech’ or drive taxes higher.
In the meantime, as vote counting continues uncertainty remains.
“Going into the election, the view was that a decisive victory for either President Trump or Joe Biden would be much preferred to an uncertain outcome – but that is exactly the situation we are now in,” said David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets.
“Mr Biden is fractionally ahead but several states have yet to declare their results. Some outcomes should be known in the next day or two, but Pennsylvania’s result might not be known until next week.
The analyst added: “The argument has been made previously that postal voting could bring about voting fraud, but it is clear that Mr Trump will probably dispute votes that don’t go his way, so this entire process could be dragged out for weeks or perhaps months.”
On Wall Street on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrials Average closed 367 points or 1.34% higher, at 27,847, whilst the S&P 500 marked a 2.2% rise to finish the session at 3,443.
The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, climbed further adding 3.85% to end Wednesday at 3.85%. The small-cap focussed Russel 2000 index was more muted, finishing the day at 1,615.
In Asia on Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index traded up 410 points or 1.73% at 24,105, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 2.65% to 25,545, and the Shanghai Composite gained 1.22% to 3,317.
Around the markets:
- The pound: US$1.2964, down 0.18%
- Gold price: US$1,908, up 0.22%
- Silver price: US$24.22, up 1.24%
- Brent crude: US$40.51, up 2.01%
- WTI crude: US$38.44, up 2.07%
- Bitcoin: US$14,335, up 3.79%
6.45am: Early Markets – Asia/Australia
Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region were higher on Thursday as investors continue to await the US election result.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 surged 1.73% higher, while South Korea’s Kospi added 2.1%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains among the Asian markets by rising 2.60%.
Chinese stocks were also higher, with the Shanghai Composite up 1.26% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.28% higher.
Proactive Australia news:
Latin Resources Ltd (ASX:LRS) (FRA:XL5) has extended its holdings in the prolific yet underexplored Lachlan Fold Belt of NSW, which hosts world-class gold and copper-gold deposits, through obtaining the Manildra Gold Project in the heart of the belt.
Mali Lithium Ltd (ASX:MLL) will commence trading under the name Firefinch Limited with the ASX code ‘FFX’ as of Friday, November 6.
MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:MXC) (OTCMKTS:MGCLF) (FRA:MGC) has completed its 50-patient Phase II double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial for anti-inflammatory treatment, ArtemiC, on patients diagnosed with COVID-19 to evaluate its safety and efficacy.
Great Southern Mining Ltd (ASX:GSN) has completed an in-house review of four strategic and highly prospective tenement applications immediately adjacent to its 100%-owned Cox’s Find Gold Project in Western Australia.
Archer Materials Limited (ASX:AXE) (OTCMKTS:ARRXF) (FRA:38A) has commenced building a lab-on-a-chip device (biochip) named A1 Biochip(TM) that is capable of simplifying disease detection at the point-of-care.
Bardoc Gold Ltd (ASX:BDC) (FRA:4SF) has identified multiple new zones of strong gold anomalism at its North Kanowna Star Project, just 29 kilometres southeast of the proposed mill and mine site at its flagship 100%-owned 3.03 million Bardoc Gold Project in Western Australia.
Emmerson Resources Ltd (ASX:ERM) (FRA:42E) has kicked off a 1,700-metre diamond drill program at its Kadungle project in New South Wales, to test below shallow epithermal gold mineralisation and also for deeper, porphyry-style copper-gold.
Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25) is on track for the Butcherbird Project in Western Australia to become a globally significant, low-cost, high-purity manganese project, with commissioning scheduled for quarter one of 2021.
MMJ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:MMJ) (OTCMKTS:MMJJF) investee Harvest One Cannabis Inc (CVE:HVT) anticipates sales volumes, net revenues and adjusted EBITDA to improve this fiscal year due to a full year of new cannabis 2.0 derivative products sales in Canada, improvements in gross margin and a continued focus on reducing costs.
Strategic Elements Ltd (ASX:SOR) will collaborate with a leading US-based Autonomous Drone technology company to enable drones to autonomously launch and land from a ground-based autonomous vehicle platform (AxV).
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