Index close to record high as pound falters

Market report Perry Gourley

London’s top-flight index edged towards record territory as blue-chip stocks enjoyed a boost from the weak pound.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 26.7 points to 7,542.87 – just 13.4 points shy of last Thursday’s all-time closing high of 7,556.24 – as Pearson delivered a strong session after hiking its annual earnings targets on Tuesday.

Shares in the education group rose 20p to 687p, making it the biggest riser on the London market and helping offset a dismal performance by Reckitt Benckiser after it warned over sales for the second time in three months.

On the second tier, the FTSE 250 Index scraped an all-time closing high, rising 128.82 points to 20,259.77, marginally beating a record of 20,259.51 set last Friday.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said it had been a “a positive day for most sectors”.

Nurofen and Durex-owner Reckitt Benckiser was among the biggest fallers as it grapples with “challenging” markets and the ongoing impact of a recent cyber attack.

Shares were down 178p to 6,857p, as the firm revealed another 2 per cent sales hit from the ransomware attack in June, which significantly disrupted its manufacturing and orders systems across a raft of markets, including the UK.

It also announced an overhaul to reorganise the firm into two divisions – its consumer health business, including recently acquired US infant formula company Mead Johnson.

Sainsbury also closed down 1.4p to 246.3p, as investors digested Tuesday’s announcement that it would cut around 2,000 jobs. The meat packing group has raised £55.9 million in a share placing to help fund the acquisition of chilled fish processor Icelandic Group. The regional airline saw its shares dive after a profits warning which it blamed on higher than expected aircraft maintenance costs.