Footsie nears 7,000 mark as pound eases

Market report Scott Reid

Britain’s benchmark share index closed within a whisker of the 7,000 mark as a weaker pound supported a number of blue-chip stocks.

The pound took a tumble against the dollar after the Bank of England warned of slowing growth, while its US counterpart, the Federal Reserve, hiked rates on Wednesday night amid signs of a strengthening US economy.

However, the weaker pound supported the FTSE 100, which closed 49.82 points higher at 6,999.01. Foreign companies on the index stand to benefit from earnings in stronger foreign currencies.

Investors were also digesting news that UK November retail sales slowed to 5.9 per cent year-on-year from October’s 14-year high of 7.2 per cent, as fuel prices increased at the fastest rate since 2011.

Sky shares rose 4.5p to 988p after Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox tabled a formal £11.7 billion takeover bid for the British broadcaster, in hopes of gaining control of the 61 per cent of the business it does not already own.

Shares in Punch Taverns jumped 14p to 191p on news that the pub operator has agreed to carve up its estate as part of a takeover by Heineken and private equity firm Patron Capital. The deal, which values Punch at £402.7 million, will see the Dutch beer giant snap up 1,895 pubs and Patron 1,329.

JD Sports shares rose 8.3p to 321p after announcing it would open an investigation into working conditions at its warehouse in Rochdale following a Channel 4 report claiming the facility is “worse than a prison”.

In France, the Cac 40 rose by about 1 per cent. The Scottish Gas owner upped its full-year earnings outlook and revealed it has stemmed the flow of energy customers leaving the business. The deferral of projects hurt order intake at the firm’s biggest unit this year, but the modest recovery in oil prices has helped improve bidding activity.