Footsie hits record high as pound suffers

The FTSE 100 closed at a record high for the second time in a month, supported by a weaker pound which failed to counter losses suffered in the wake of Thursday’s UK interest rate decision.

The blue-chip index ended the day up by merely 5.03 points, but it was enough to bring it to a record closing high of 7,560.35. It topped the previous record reached on 12 October, when the index hit 7,556.24. The move was driven in part by the weak pound, as listed multinational firms tend to benefit when foreign currencies are stronger than sterling.

Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The Footsie has climbed this week on the back of a falling pound, as currency markets groaned at the Bank of England’s weak expectations for future interest rate rises.” International Consolidated Airlines Group fell 9.5p at 621.5p, as investors bemoaned news that the British Airways owner was sticking to targets for its return on capital investments. Shares in medical devices firm Smith &

Nephew tumbled 29p to 1,412p, despite saying

it expects full-year underlying revenue growth to be at the lower end of its previous guidance.

Centrica shares rose 0.7p to 167.7p amid news that it has splashed out £62 million to acquire a demand response aggregator.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included NMC Health, up 127p to 3,089p, Johnson Matthey, up 93p at 3,503p, Coca-cola HBC, up 70p at 2,638p, and Kingfisher, up 7.5p at 317.1p.

The biggest faller was Convatec Group, down 4.2p at 182p.