European shares rise as Clinton campaign is revived

European shares rallied yesterday, underpinned by stronger banking stocks, as news that Hillary Clinton would not face charges over her use of a private email server gave her bid for the White House fresh momentum just before the November 8th vote.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 1.5 per cent. Last week the pan-European index made its biggest weekly loss since February on growing uncertainty over the US vote’s outcome.

Markets had been positioned for a victory for Democrat Clinton until last week's wobble, and she is seen as offering greater certainty and stability by investors. She got a fresh boost over Republican rival Donald Trump after the FBI said on Sunday it stood by its earlier finding that no criminal charges were warranted.

DUBLIN

The Iseq rose by 110 points to close at 6,029, tracking positive trends elsewhere.

Ryanair was the main mover of the day, closing 5 per cent up at €13.40 after a well-received earnings update. The carrier lifted its long-term growth forecast by 10 per cent and said it would return an additional €550 million to shareholders by February.

Permanent TSB fell 2.4 per cent to €2.48, having been on a positive run since the sale of its UK loan book to Cerberus. Rival Bank of Ireland maintained its recent upward charge, closing 1 per cent up at 20 cents. Drinks group C&C also ended up 1 per cent at €3.47 while food group Glanbia fell 1 per cent to €15.39.

Iseq heavyweight CRH was buoyed by US markets' positive reaction ahead of the election, rising 1.6 per cent to €29.25.

LONDON

The FTSE 100 Index closed higher by 1.7 per cent or 113.64 points at 6806.9, as the London market swung back into positive territory after slumping to a seven-week low yesterday when investors sweated over polls showing a close race to the White House.

The upward move added £28.6 billion to the value of the FTSE 100 index. Meanwhile, the pound was stripped of last week’s gains as the US dollar strengthened.

On the FTSE 100, mining shares soared after JP Morgan raised its target price for a number of stocks including Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Anglo American.

Shares in HSBC rose 27.5p to 622.3p despite it reporting an 86 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £678 million for the third quarter as it took a hefty hit from the disposal of its Brazilian business. Tesco shares took a hit, falling 2.3p to 200.2p after its banking unit revealed that hackers stole money from thousands of current accounts over the weekend.

EUROPE

Analysts at

Deutsche Bank

said a Clinton victory could lift Europe’s STOXX index by around 5 per cent, while uncertainty linked to a Trump win could see it fall 5-10 per cent.

Italy's Intesa, France's BNP Paribas and Germany's Deutsche Bank rose between 3.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent. Analysts had said banks would suffer in particular by any policy uncertainty created by a Trump presidency.

Miners also benefited from the risk-on mood as copper prices rose. Basic resources stocks rose 3 per cent, the biggest percentage riser. The top STOXX gainer was Ferrari, up nearly 7 per cent after Q3 results beat forecasts. PostNL gained 5.8 per cent, after the Dutch postal company rebuffed a raised takeover offer from Belgian rival Bpost.

NEW YORK

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 371.32 points, or 2.08 per cent, to 18,259.6, the S&P 500 gained 46.34 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 2,131.52 and the Nasdaq Composite added 119.80 points, or 2.37 per cent, to 5,166.17.

Gold, which also rose every day last week to a one-month high above $1,300 an ounce, fell 1.8 per cent, its biggest drop since October 4th, to $1,280.94. Bond prices retreated as risk appetite surged across the board. – (Additional reporting by Reuters)