FTSE-100 leaps again as positive mood spreads from US shares.

Shares surged higher today after a decent end to trading in the US last night boosted confidence.

The FTSE-100 shot up to nearly 6200 after leaping on the back of a weaker dollar which boosted companies with big international operations. By lunchtime it was up 146.13 at 6196.95, echoing similar strong gains across European indices.

The Footsie has, as ever, been taking its cue from the ebbs and flows of the bigger stories surrounding the US economy, notably the bickering among politicians there over a Covid aid plan and US-China relations.

Reports today suggest a US capital gains in the US is in the offing, potentially boosting share prices there, while there were rising hopes of a deal on Covid stimulus measures after US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin indicated he was prepared to engage with Democrats to get a deal done.

Markets are assuming that an agreement will eventually be reached, it is merely a matter of “when, not if”.

All that polished up the grim news on jobs in the UK economy with employment falling more than 2% since February and an increasing pace of job shedding in July. Claimant count unemployment rose from 7.2% to 7.5%. The trouble is, many of the measures of unemployment are deemed inaccurate at the moment due to changes in benefit payment eligibility and other factors.

The gold price fell sharply from its recent highs. That hit London shares in miners such as Polymetal and Fresnillo - both 4% down, but the benefits for UK stocks of the pound easing easily outweighed that, with gambling giant GVC, British Airways owner IAG and steelmaker Evraz all up 7% and more.

Oil jumped, with crude up 62 cents at $45.59 a barrel.

Big oil banker HSBC surged 5%, singlehandedly adding 12 points to the FTSE-100, closely followed by the 10 points apiece added to the blue chip board by BP and Shell, both up 5% on the day

The flurry of corporate mergers and acquisitions continued apace yesterday with private equity group Advent’s takeover of UK parcel delivery group Hermes as part of a plan to capitalise on the shift to shopping online during lockdown. That added to the general feeling of positivity around stock market valuations.

If anybody had needed any reminding of the impact on the hospitality industry of Covid, it was supplied in droves by Royal Caribbean and Marriott last night as the cruise operator and hotelier reported massive losses for the second quarter - $1.64 billion and $234 million respectively. Today saw further gloomy reports on this side of the Atlantic from Holiday Inn owner IHG although brokers at Goldman Sachs noted its cashflow remained strong and the shares gained 4%.