Strengthening pound presses on FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 closed lower after the strengthening pound pressed on the index following a bright morning driven by good performances from housebuilders.

London’s top flight closed 38.78 points lower at 7,571.92 at the end of trading yesterday. It was a largely subdued trading session for blue-chip firms with exception to construction firms, as Berkeley’s plans for a £1 billion shareholder payout were welcomed by investors.

The UK housebuilder said it will pay out £500 million to shareholders in March this year and another £500m a year later.

Berkeley led the FTSE 100 at the close after its shares jumped 226p to 5,412p as a result.

The announcement helped to boost its rivals, with Taylor Wimpey closing 2.1p higher at 216.4p, and Persimmon closing 24p higher at 3,001p.

The value of the pound increased 0.64% versus the US dollar at 1.313 and rose 0.63% against the euro at 1.184.

The German Dax increased by 0.05% while the French Cac moved 0.58% lower.

The Dow Jones opened higher, returning to growth despite Steve Mnuchin’s comments that there is no hard deadline for the US and China to complete phase two of trade talks.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 0.55% to 65.36 US dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Berkeley, up 226p at 5,412p, Sage Group, up 28.6p at 762.6p, London Stock exchange Group, up 278p at 7,986p, and Aveva, up 140p at 5,170p. The biggest fallers on the index were Tui, down 49p at 837p, NMC Health, down 80p at 1,407p, Burberry, down 113p at 2,150p, and Antofagasta, down 43p at 907p.