The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
FTSE 100 out of the red as tensions cool
London’s blue chip index edged out of the red yesterday as US president Donald Trump played down the prospect of an attack in Syria.
The FTSE 100 ended the day relatively flat, up just 1.2 points at 7,258.34, though it lagged behind European peers including the French CAC 40 and German DAX, which rose 0.6% and 1%, respectively.
Investors were breathing a sigh of relief as Mr Trump back-peddled on rhetoric over a potential strike in Syria following an alleged chemical attack by the Assad regime.
Sterling was trading higher, rising 0.4% against the US dollar to 1.424 and 0.9% versus the euro to 1.156.
It came in the wake of data from the Bank of England credit conditions survey, which pointed to a drop in the availability of unsecured credit.
Brent crude prices fell 0.6% to around 71.50 US dollars per barrel, as investors started to cash in on Wednesday’s high, sparked by geopolitical fears.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Micro Focus International up 88.5p to 1,258p, Tesco up 7.8p at 233.2p, easyJet up 51.5p at 1,661p, and Standard Life Aberdeen up 11.6p at 377p.
The biggest fallers were ITV, down 7.3p at 142.9p, Randgold Resources down 184p at 5,692p, Rentokil down 5.4p at 273.2p, and Reckitt Benckiser Group down 114p to 6,036p.