The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sterling drops amid political uncertainty
The pound took a hit yesterday amid fears surrounding Theresa May’s future as Prime Minister following weekend reports that she is facing a rebellion from Conservative backbenchers.
Sterling fell as much as 0.8% against the US dollar at one point, but was trading nearer 1.310, down more than 0.6% in late afternoon trading.
Its performance against the euro was also impacted, dropping 0.6% to trade at 1.123.
Investors were reacting to a Sunday Times report that a group of around 40 MPs had signed a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister.
The FTSE 100 ended the day down around 0.24% or 17.81 points at 7,415.18 points.
Brent crude prices were down 0.6% at 63.24 edging away from its highest level since June 2015, as traders remained uncertain about the future of global supply levels, which have yet to recover from a multi-year glut.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Carnival up 83p to 4,947p, Astrazeneca up 60p to 4,930p, Diageo up 21p to 2,580.5p, and Royal Dutch Shell’s ‘B’ shares up 20p to 2,477.5p.
The biggest fallers were Babcock International Group down 59.5p to 753p, Coca-Cola HBC down 115p to 2, 470p, NMC Health down 118p to 2,800p, and BAE Systems down 19p to 537p.