Pound rises on hopes no-deal may be halted

The pound edged higher yesterday as Jeremy Corbyn agreed to back a group of MPs in their attempts to halt a no-deal Brexit. Sterling was 0.6% higher on the euro at 1.107, and jumped 0.5% versus the US dollar to 1.228.

It came after the Labour leader agreed to put a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson on the back burner while crossparty efforts to stop the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal are prioritised.

The currency has proved to be sensitive to Brexit-related news in recent months, with standard economic news taking on secondary importance.

The pound’s rise held back top shares in London, which were flat while their European peers made gains.

The FTSE 100, which benefits from a weaker pound, was down 5.4 points, or 0.08%, to 7,089.58.

The German Dax climbed 0.62% and the French Cac was up 0.67%.

Oil prices were lower after a weekend of escalating tension between the US and China, but President Donald Trump said talks between the countries will begin “very shortly”, soothing some investor fears.

A barrel of Brent Crude Oil was trading at 58.65 US dollars, down 0.27%.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were NMC Health up 141p to 2,298p, Standard Life Aberdeen up 10p to 250.7p, British Land up 20.4p to 517.2p, and Land Securities Group up 24.8p to 784.6p. The biggest fallers were British American Tobacco down 129p to 2,832p, Just Eat down 16.2p to 756p, Ferguson down 100p to 5,884p, and Standard Chartered down 7.6p to 606.8.