FTSE 100 back above 6,300

• FTSE 100 closes higher
• US equities mixed as rotation out of tech stocks continues
• Rolls Royce among top Footsie gainers

5pm: FTSE 100 closes 1.8% higher

FTSE 100 index closed firmly in the green on Tuesday, consolidating yesterday’s surge, as traders continue to bask in the optimism of a potential vaccine to end the pandemic.

Britain’s blue-chip benchmark joined other European indices to head north, closing over 110 points higher, or 1.79% higher at 6,296, just lower than the intra-day high of 6,307.

FTSE 250 also did well, advancing 177 points, or 0.94% to close at 19,028.

” and BioNTech are developing a drug that has the potential to become a vaccine for the coronavirus, and yesterday it was announced that the drug achieved more than a 90% success rate in a late stage trial,” reiterated David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.

“Broadly speaking, airlines, hospitality, and transport stocks are showing strong gains again. Those industries were arguably the hardest hit by the pandemic, and in the past 24 hours, they have been in high demand, as arguably they have the most to gain from life returning to normal. The EU is one step closer to pressing ahead with its €1.8 trillion budget, and that has helped the mood too.”

US and Canada: 11.40am

On Wall Street, stocks were mixed on the day as election fall-out continues. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced over 185 points at 29,343. The  Nasdaq plunged over 106 at 11,607. The S&P 500 index shed around five points to stand at 3,544. Up in Toronto, the TSX added over 142 at 16, 617.

3.35pm: Great news for fans of round numbers

Fans of the significance of round numbers got a thrill this afternoon as the FTSE 100 rose above 6,300.

It is the first time since late July that London’s benchmark of blue-chip stocks has hit such lofty heights, with today’s 115 points (1.9%) rise to 6,302 driven by a return to favour of some decidedly dowdy deadbeats, such as (), which was up 8.7% at 115.05p, and packaging giant Smith (DS) PLC (), up 5.7% at 317.1p.

Among the mid-caps, () – not the UK’s favourite company but possibly in the top 10,000 – was top of the FTSE 250 with a stonking 24% rise at 32.14p after a third-quarter trading update.

The FTSE 250 firm said the business had performed in line with its expectations and reported adjusted earnings (EBITDA) of £115mln, up from £111mln a year ago, while revenues fell to £803mln from £902mln.

Also in the FTSE 250, cinemas operator Cineworld PLC () was doing the old Mark Twain “rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated” schtick as its share soared 16% to 46.83p on hopes that the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfier Inc and BioNTech will signal the end of lockdowns in the not too distant future.

The announcement that had lifted its stake to 6.36% from 6.33% did not harm sentiment either.

#cine just like my earlier tweet be careful of the spike folks, cineworld will be bust before it ever opens again. Back into the safe #covid stocks.

— Harry Norrie ???????????????????????????? ???????? (@Harrynorrie) November 10, 2020

3.30pm: Proactive North America headlines:

Corp () poised to boost its royalty portfolio with eight more precious and base metal assets

NexTech AR Solutions Corp () () inks first Asia-Pacific partnership with South Korea convention center to develop hybrid events

Goldseek Resources Inc () () bolsters portfolio as it stakes Val D’Or North property

() (OTCMKTS:OQMGF) increases drill rigs to six for its Alpha and Malartic properties in Val D’Or, Quebec

Medallion Resources Ltd () (OTCQB:MLLOF) (FRA:MRDN) starts technical assessment of its proprietary rare earths extraction process

Corp  () () says timelines for pilot plant completion and submission of permit amendments for its cobalt refinery remain on…