Document has little effect on London market

In yet another sign that London’s blue-chip index rarely reacts to domestic events, the FTSE 100 maintained its recent five-week highs yesterday, as investors sat on their hands.

The government published its Yellowhammer no-deal Brexit planning document, with various warnings about fresh food delays, medicine shortages and fears about a lack of preparedness by British businesses.

But the FTSE 100 barely moved, closing the day up 6.64 points at 7,344.67.

Traders appeared more interested in developments overseas – particularly on the continent, where the European Central Bank’s outgoing president Mario Draghi gave a parting gift of a new stimulus package and interest rates cut.

He is replaced by IMF head Christine Lagarde in November.

The decision was already heavily flagged, giving the euro a wobble at first, but ending the day strengthened against the dollar and pound.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “Initially the euro was shaken by the confirmation of the central bank’s long-suspected plans.

“However, once it had time to properly dig through the details it was less concerned, swapping a 0.4% decline against both dollar and pound for gains of 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.

“That’s because the plans have been described as ‘less generous’ than first thought, with a certain amount of disappointment that the package wasn’t more robust.”

The weakening dollar also helped the pound continue its climb back from record lows against the currency, with a pound worth 1.2349 dollars – up 0.16%.