Markets Overview: (Source: Bloomberg, FT, Reuters, DJ Newswires)

UK 100 Index called to open +80pts at 6775, halting last week’s run of negative openings. Having reached lows of 6655 on Friday evening, political revelations over the weekend are giving the index a sharp boost heading into the week of the US Presidential election. Bulls will be looking for a strong uptrend to be developed on the way to breaking the 6800 and 6900 marks before the polls are counted in the early hours of Wednesday, whereas Bears will be hoping that the bounce is short lived, with the index once more turning back towards 6700. Watch levels: Bullish 6810, Bearish 6695.

A positive open comes as Hillary Clinton is given the all clear from the FBI for a second time, Director Comey telling Congress the bureau has ‘not changed its conclusions’ reached in July based on fresh evidence. Polls are indicating Clinton pulling away slightly, although her lead remains well below the levels pre-FBI investigation. The election will be the driving force for markets before Wednesday morning, whilst in the meantime the final few Q3 earnings releases are likely to take a back seat. That said, HSBC could be a driver for the UK Index this morning having jumped in overnight trading in Hong Kong despite posting an 86% decline in pretax profit. Rebounding Crude Oil prices will help the heavily weighted UK Index Oil sector this morning, however how long it will last with OPEC members continuing at odds with each other over potential production cuts remains to be seen.

Asian markets reacted favourably to the latest update in the ongoing Clinton-FBI drama, posting gains across the board. Japan’s Nikkei is benefitting from a strengthening dollar, up 1.5%, while Australia’s ASX benefitting from an upturn in commodities prices and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up despite its Property sector falling sharply as transaction taxes were increased in the city; the indices were up 1.4% and 0.6% respectively.

US equity markets are tipped to open sharply higher, ending the run of nine consecutive negative sessions on the S&P index. This comes as a result of aforementioned political developments, although the potential for pre-election jitters to result in a highly volatile day of trading remains a real prospect.

Crude oil prices are rebounding as the OPEC Secretary General reaffirms his group’s commitment to cut output, coming despite reports to the contrary released on Friday. At a conference in the UAE Mr Barkindo stated that all members of the organisation are committed to the deal reached in Algiers, at direct odds with reports that Saudi Arabia is threatening to increase output if members Iran and Iraq fail to cut theirs. Elsewhere Gold price has opened the week sharply lower as a result of the latest FBI clearing of Presidential candidate Clinton, breaking the safe haven asset’s rally since October 28.

Macro data in focus today begins with Spanish Industrial data released at 8am, seen declining from last month’s showing, however Halifax House Price figures at 8:30am might be a mixed bag, the MoM data forecast to slightly improve whilst the YoY figure is seen down 0.9%. Thereafter Eurozone Retail PMI, Sentix Investor Confidence and Retail Sales data is reported, with the former seen to marginally increase to 8.6 and the latter seen declining from last month but increasing YoY. The afternoon’s solitary helping of US macro data, Labor Market Conditions for October, is released at 3pm.

Speakers of note today are a wholly European affair, including the ECB’s Constancio at 9:15am, his ECB colleague Lautenschlaeger at 4pm and the Swedish Riksbank Deputy Governor Ohlsson one hour later. The meeting of the Euro Group in Brussels at 2pm is likely, as ever, to provide some Brexit-related soundbites, while the late night release of the latest minutes from the Bank of Japan at 10 to midnight may help provide insight into the state of the central bank’s current bond purchase programme.

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UK Company Headlines: (Source: Reuters/DJ Newswires)

• Informa says on track for full year expectations
• Underwriter Hiscox's 9 – month gross written premiums rise 14.3%
• HSBC Q3 pretax profit sinks 86%
• Hammerson announces disposal of retail park for £36m
• Ryanair says ancillary sales improving, sees fleet of 585 planes by 2024
• Ryanair lifts growth forecast, eyes 200 mln passengers per year by 2024
• Jaguar Land Rover posts global October sales of 46,325 vehicles
• John Laing Infrastructure Fund reports 28% growth in portfolio asset value
• Ofgem says closing probe without decision on whether or not SSE infringed competition law
• Smiths Group completes £140m Wallace sale to CooperSurgical
• Betting sites see record wagering on U.S. presidential election
• Oil prices bounce after OPEC reaffirms plan to cut output