The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
FTSE follows global stocks higher amid prospect of US tax reforms
The prospect of US tax reforms has buoyed global stock markets but knocked the dollar, sending UK shares and sterling higher.
The FTSE 100 ended the day up by 0.62% or 46.44 points at 7,537.01, trending higher alongside its US and European peers including the French Cac 40 and German Dax which rose 1.3% and 1.6%, respectively.
David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “There is talk US lawmakers will pass the pro-business tax cuts that President Trump proposed this week, and that has been fuelling global investor sentiment.
“The prospect of tax cuts being approved ahead of Christmas is propping up global stock markets.”
The weaker greenback supported the pound, which was trading 0.6% higher against the US dollar at around 1.340.
Sterling’s gains against the euro were relatively muted, up 0.17% at 1.134.
In oil markets, Brent crude prices were up 0.4% at 63.47 US dollars per barrel.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Anglo American up 70.5p at 1,480.5p, Old Mutual up 9.7p at 213.1p, Babcock International Group up 22p at 706.5p, and Rolls-Royce Holdings up 24.5p at 855.5p.
The biggest fallers were EasyJet down 40p at 1,377p, WPP down 24p at 1,365p, Morrison Supermarkets down 2.1p at 213.4p, and BT Group down 2.2p at 275.35p.