Carney spurs mini rally for UK currency

Market report Emma Newlands

Sterling staged a minor recovery after Bank of England governor Mark Carney suggested market reactions to Brexit may be “mistaken”.

The currency was trading lower by 0.46 per cent at around $1.216 following his appearance in front of the House of Lords economic affairs committee. It marked a slight recovery after the pound dropped as much as 1 per cent to $1.20 against the greenback earlier in the afternoon. Against the euro, sterling was down 0.7 per cent at €1.116.

The FTSE 100 closed higher by 31.24 points at 7,017.64, supported by a rise in commodity stocks linked to a positive trading update by Anglo American, which maintained its output guidance and reported better market conditions for its diamond unit.

It topped the index, rising 48.5p to 1,114p, and pushed other commodity stocks higher. However, engineering group GKN fell 9.3p to 313.9p after warning that growth rates would ease in its major markets on tougher economic conditions. NEW YORK: Wall Street indices slipped last night as consumer companies like athletic apparel maker Under Armour and appliance maker Whirlpool revealed their largest losses in years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 53.76 points, or 0.30 per cent, to end on 18,169.27 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished 8.17 points, or 0.38 per cent, lower at 2,143.16. The Nasdaq Composite index fell 26.43 points, or 0.50 per cent, to close on 5,283.40. The miner was one of several commodity stocks buoyed by Anglo American, with the FTSE 350 mining sector index closing up 3.7 per cent. The hospitality giant was the worst performing blue-chip despite reporting a 3.4 per cent rise in pretax profits, saying it will monitor the impact of Brexit.